Musk sets expectations low before SpaceX Starship test flight

Most powerful rocket ever built ready to blast off on initial step towards humans returning to moon

The most powerful rocket ever built is ready for its first test flight, with its makers, SpaceX, hoping the launch from Texas will be the initial step on a human journey back to the moon and eventually Mars.

After last-minute approval from the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday, the Starship rocket system could blast off after 8am local time (2pm in the UK). At 120 metres, it is almost as long as three passenger jets and 10 metres taller than the Saturn V rocket that sent humans to the moon in 1969