Musk says SpaceX Starship rocket launch slipping to later in April

FILE PHOTO: A Starship prototype being worked on is pictured at the SpaceX South Texas launch site in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key SpaceX Starship Super Heavy rocket launch test now is likely to take place later this month rather than sometime this week, the space company's CEO Elon Musk said on Monday.

SpaceX envisions Starship as a fully reusable transportation system to carry astronauts and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon, Mars and beyond. The rocket is scheduled to lift off from SpaceX's Starbase facilities at Boca Chica in South Texas in the first launch of the company's fully stacked 394-foot (120-meter) tall Starship rocket system. Fully stacked means all its parts are assembled, with the upper stage sitting atop the booster.