Where Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster is now after it was launched into space and caused amateur astronomer to panic
Published on Jul 20, 2026 at 2:13 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Jul 20, 2026 at 2:56 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
Remember the Tesla Roadster that Elon Musk launched into space? One amateur astronomer has spotted it and it’s caused him some concern.
If you cast your mind back to 2018, you’ll recall the magnificent sight of a Tesla Roadster heading into orbit on the back of a SpaceX rocket.
In the years since, plenty have tracked the EV’s trajectory as it orbited Earth.
Along the way, one amateur astronomer caused some panic due to a mix-up.
This Tesla Roadster became spaceborne eight years ago
History was made on February 6 2018, when a Tesla Roadster was launched into space.
With an astronaut named ‘Starman’ in the drivers seat, the Roadster was strapped onto the back of a SpaceX Falcon heavy rocket.
Usually test flights of new rockets would contain ‘mass simulators’ in the form of concrete or steel blocks.
But that didn’t appeal to Elon Musk.
“That seemed extremely boring,” Musk wrote in a previous Instagram post.
“Of course, anything boring is terrible, especially companies, so we decided to send something unusual, something that made us feel.
“The payload will be an original Tesla Roadster, playing Space Oddity, on a billion year elliptic Mars orbit.”
In the years since, practically every facet of this amazing voyage has been covered, from the soundtrack of David Bowie blasting in Starman’s helmet to the possibility of the Roadster hitting Earth.
Which neatly brings us onto the story of one amateur astronomer who caused quite a stir.
How an amateur astronomer caused a fair bit of panic
When you’re an amateur astronomer mapping the skies, a red car isn’t going to appear evidently clear to you – it’ll just look like a tiny dot.
So it’s understandable why this Turkish man was panicked when he spotted what appeared to be an asteroid heading towards Earth.
“To a telescope, an artificial object and a rock in the same orbit look pretty similar without a lot of detailed follow-up investigation,” Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics, told Smithsonian magazine.
The Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts logged the discovery.
Given that it was less than 150,000 miles from Earth, it was qualified as a near-Earth object, meaning it was worth monitoring.
The idea of an asteroid hitting the Earth is always going to provoke some feelings of unease, as demonstrated by Hollywood films like Deep Impact and Armageddon.
But within 17 hours of logging the discovery, the Minor Planet Center had to delete it from its records after realizing it was a car.
This isn’t the first case of mistaken identity either, with at least four spacecraft added and deleted from MPC’s record books between 2020 and 2022, Astronomy.com reported.
Where is the Tesla Roadster now?
One element of the story is accurate, to an extent, and that’s the notion that the Roadster could eventually collide with the Earth.
Well, we say collide – it’ll almost entirely vaporize upon entering the atmosphere, posing no risk to anyone on the ground.
And we’re talking about millions of years away.
But at this moment in time, where exactly is the Roadster and its spaceman driver?
At the time of this article being written, it is more than 81,713,000 miles from Earth, travelling towards us at a speed of 14,226 miles per hour, according to whereisroadster.com.
In the years since it was launched, it has completed 5.5395 orbits of the Sun, and played Space Oddity 838,320 times and Life On Mars 1,129,601 times.
It’s covered enough distance to drive all of the roads on Earth 104.6 times.
Wowzer.
Speaking of the amateur astronomer mix-up, Ben Pearson, who runs the whereisroadster website, said that this was a fairly common occurrence.
“This kind of thing happens all of the time. Apollo era boosters, Rosetta and Lucy are a few such objects,” he told Supercar Blondie.
“Tracking asteroids is challenging, and there’s always some amount of uncertainty involved. Spacecraft often end up close to Earth and they appear just like any asteroid when viewing them.”
History of the Tesla Roadster in Space
February 6, 2018: Elon Musk’s personal cherry-red Tesla Roadster is launched aboard SpaceX’s maiden Falcon Heavy test flight, with the mannequin ‘Starman’ in the driver’s seat.
February 2018: After leaving Earth orbit, the Roadster is placed into a heliocentric orbit around the Sun, crossing the paths of Earth and Mars.
August 2019: The Roadster completes its first orbit around the Sun, marking roughly 18 months in deep space.
October 2020: The Roadster makes a distant flyby of Mars at around 5 million miles, with the planet’s gravity having little effect on its trajectory.
January 2, 2025: An amateur astronomer in Turkey mistakes the Roadster for a newly discovered near-Earth asteroid, prompting astronomers to temporarily designate it as 2018 CN41.
January 3, 2025: Astronomers identify the object as Musk’s Tesla Roadster, withdraw the asteroid designation, and confirm there is no threat to Earth.
Ben joined Supercar Blondie in February 2025 after being published by international organizations including LADbible, The Sun, the New York Post, and the Daily Mail. He covers supercars, rare and collectible vehicles, aviation, luxury assets, and the fascinating people behind them. His reporting has explored everything from seven-figure supercars and historic Ferrari collections to unusual aircraft adventures and extraordinary automotive discoveries from around the world. Ben has also gained first-hand insight into vehicle craftsmanship and customization, including visiting specialist workshops to see bespoke vehicles up close.
