Elon Musk’s SpaceX is preparing a fourth launch of its Starship rocket, which it is hoped will soon return mankind to the Moon and Mars.

The previous three tests all ended with the destruction of the 400ft tall launcher, but each made incremental progress and gathered fresh data.

The mission is set to blast off from Starbase in Texas at 7am local time – or 1pm UK time – barring any last minute delays.

The previous Starship mission in March saw Mr Musk’s rocket reach orbit and sail around the planet, although it disintegrated as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.

Engineers at the rocket company are hoping today’s mission can demonstrate some of the rocket’s reusable technology by performing a “soft” landing of its boosters in the Gulf of Mexico.

You can follow the build up to the launch here with The Telegraph. The mission will also be live-streamed on Mr Musk’s social network X – formerly known as Twitter – and the SpaceX website.