Forget the car in space: why Elon Musk's reusable rockets are more than a publicity stunt

The onboard Tesla Roadster grabbed the headlines, but the real success of this week's space adventure was the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle

SpaceX has made history: the rocket company, founded in 2002 by billionaire playboy Elon Musk, has launched his cherry-red Tesla Roadster into space, on course to the asteroid belt after overshooting its intended Mars orbit.

As with so much Musk does, the event was a hybrid of genuine breakthrough and nerd-baiting publicity stunt. The presence of the car - replete with spacesuit-wearing crash test dummy, David Bowie playing from the speakers and a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy quote on-screen - may not have any real point beyond generating good press pics, but the same can't be said for the Falcon Heavy it was launched in.