SpaceX successfully launches Falcon Heavy rocket

SpaceX has successfully launched its powerful commercial rocket Falcon Heavy into space.

The rocket was shot into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Sunday night.

It will carry three satellites into orbit, which could enable Internet access in rural areas in the United States and on planes and ships.

In April, SpaceX's Starship, the world's most powerful rocket ever built, exploded minutes after blasting off, causing it to crash into the Gulf of Mexico.

The test also pulverised enough concrete to raise concerns about its environmental impact and sparked a fire near a wildlife refuge.

SpaceX says the Falcon Heavy is one of the world's most powerful rockets, and that engines generate as much power at liftoff as approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. It can lift nearly 64 metric tons into orbit.

[Correction: This article has been updated to clarify that Falcon Heavy is not the world's most powerful rocket, but one of them; Starship is the one that exploded minutes after launch in April.]