SpaceX Mars Starship rocket prototype to fly soon: Elon Musk

<p class="p1">SpaceX will attempt to fly a prototype of its Mars Starship rocket this week, said CEO Elon Musk.</p>
<p class="p1">Starship is SpaceX's ambitious spacecraft to take humans to the Red Planet. The company has been working on prototypes to find the right design that will work for transport.</p>
<p class="p1">Musk revealed on Twitter that the latest version of the prototype, SN5, "will attempt to fly later this week."</p>
<p class="p1">This does not mean SpaceX will attempt to send a spacecraft to Mars this week itself.</p>
<p class="p1">According to a report in CNET on Wednesday, the first flight of SN5 is expected to be a 150-meter "hop."</p>
<p class="p1">Last year, such a flight was performed by an earlier Starship prototype dubbed "Starhopper".</p>
<p class="p1">SpaceX says its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket (collectively referred to as Starship) represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.</p>
<p class="p1">The company has been rapidly iterating on the design of Starship with orbital-flight targeted for 2020.</p>
<p class="p1">The previous iteration of the Starship prototype, SN4, exploded right after a static fire test in May this year.</p>.