Newly discovered asteroid turns out to be Tesla Roadster launched into space

Newly discovered asteroid turns out to be Tesla Roadster launched into space

SpaceX launched the Tesla Roadster on the maiden flight of the spacecraft company's huge Falcon Heavy rocket in 2018

Seven years after the SpaceX CEO launched a Tesla Roadster into orbit, astronomers from the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts confused it with an asteroid earlier this month. (SpaceX via Getty Images)

SpaceX launched the Tesla Roadster on the maiden flight of SpaceX's huge Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2018. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images))

Elon Musk's SpaceX launched his former personal car into orbit at the time. (Justin Sullivan)