Falcon Heavy launches successfully!

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket successfully launched on its maiden test flight Tuesday. Throughout the day, I updated this story as events unfolded. Scroll on for a recap, starting in the morning and ending with the final burn toward Mars.

11:15 a.m. EST

Hello from Kennedy Space Center! Today, SpaceX will attempt to launch its Falcon Heavy rocket on a demo flight. If you need to brush up on the flight, here are our previous articles:

Preview: Succeed or fail, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy test sure to be a blast (Feb. 1)

Let's talk about Elon Musk launching his Tesla into space (Feb. 5)

Reporter's notebook: 'Twas the night before Falcon Heavy (Feb. 5)

Today's launch window opens at 1:30 p.m. EST. A SpaceX representative told us the live webcast will begin around 1:10 p.m. Here's the link for that, and here's a timeline of events, straight from the SpaceX press kit:

And here's a quick shot from the press site:

12:15 p.m. EST

The launch time has slipped to 2:20 p.m. EST due to upper-level winds. Today's launch window extends through 4:00 p.m. EST, according to SpaceX's press kit.

Elon Musk tweeted a diagram of today's launch and landing sequence. Here it is:

1:45 p.m. EST

The upper-level winds at Cape Canaveral continue to be a problem, but controllers have set a launch time of 3:45 p.m. EST. 

2:00 p.m. EST

We're pushing to 3:45 p.m. Stay tuned.

3:25 p.m. EST

SpaceX's webcast should be going live now. We've embedded the YouTube player here:

4:15 p.m. EST

SUCCESS! The Falcon Heavy's second stage and Tesla payload are now in Earth orbit. Liftoff occurred at 3:45 p.m. EST. Both of the Falcon Heavy side boosters successfully returned to Cape Canaveral for upright landings. The fate of the center core, which was supposed to land on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, is unclear. A flight controller said "we lost the center core" on the launch feed, but SpaceX has yet to clarify whether that meant the signal dropped, or if the booster crashed. 

The second stage is on a six-hour coast before it re-lighting to propel the Tesla on to Mars.

In any case, it's safe to call the test flight a success. Congrats, SpaceX!

4:45 p.m. EST

Live views of the Starman, riding in the Tesla, orbiting Earth:

5:15 p.m. EST

An image of Starman over Australia:

8:00 p.m. EST 

Elon Musk held a press conference this evening with reporters at Kennedy Space Center:

Here's a Twitter thread recapping the highlights (I was wrong about the live stream, by the way; ABC had one):

And a clarification on the fate of the center core:

And the mission patch!

9:00 p.m. EST (final update)

After a six-hour coast, the upper stage re-lit its engine to kick out of Earth orbit and on to Mars. 

As an added bonus, the final burn occured over SpaceX headquarters in Southern California. It was visible in other regions of the southwest, too: The MMT Observatory in Arizona captured this view with their all-sky camera: