The launch is pending regulatory approval, and "as is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change," SpaceX said.

The private company is planning a live webcast of the test about 40 minutes before the launch.

SpaceX's Starbase is in southwest Texas in Boca Chica near Brownsville.

The Super Heavy booster, which is 232 feet tall, is the heaviest flying object ever built by humankind at a weight of approximately 12 million pounds at liftoff. Overall, the Starship is 394 feet compared with the Saturn V rocket, which was 363 feet tall and 6.2 million pounds.

SpaceX's Starship is scheduled to go to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program with a landing no earlier than mid-2027 with humans, the first time since 1972. And a trip to Mars is on the drawing board.

The seventh Starship lifted off from Orbital Launch Pad A on Jan. 16.

The first-stage booster successfully returned to the launch site and was caught by the "chopstick" arms on the launch tower, making it the second booster recovered after the fifth test.

However, during its initial burn, its upper-stage engines experienced premature shutdowns, followed by a total loss of telemetry. The vehicle was observed exploding over the Turks and Caicos Islands, but it didn't cause any injuries.

This incident prompted regional airspace closures lasting over an hour and triggered a Federal Aviation Administration mishap investigation that halted tests.

"Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!" SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on X about the incident.

SpaceX said several hardware and operational changes were made to increase the reliability of the upper stage, which is 232 feet.

The upcoming flight includes plans for Starship's first payload deployment and multiple re-entry experiments geared toward returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch.

Starship will deploy four Starlink simulators, similar to next-generation Starlink satellites. They will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship.

The Super Heavy booster features upgraded avionics, including a more powerful flight computer, improved power and network distribution, and integrated smart batteries.

The returning booster will slow from supersonic speeds, resulting in sonic booms near the landing zone.

"Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable," SpaceX said. "But by putting flight hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we're able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle."

President-elect Donald Trump and Musk were in hand for the sixth test on Nov. 19.

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