SpaceX is gearing up to launch Starship for its seventh test flight, attempting to deploy Starlink mock-ups from the rocket for the first time. Starship is set for liftoff as early as Friday, January 10,

SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk has announced a delay in the seventh test flight of the company's ambitious Starship launch vehicle. Previously scheduled for January 10, the test is now expected to take place next week.

After separation from the upper stage, the lower-stage booster will attempt to return to Starbase to land at its launch tower. The company achieved the feat during the fifth flight of Starship on Oct. 13 but was unable to repeat it on the sixth flight in November. That booster diverted to a water landing in the Gulf of Mexico.

SpaceX is significantly upping the ante of its Starship test flight program, with the next rocket launch expected to demonstrate payload deployment for

During its next test, currently scheduled for Jan. 10, the Starship vehicle will carry a payload meant to replicate 10 next-generation Starlink satellites.

Elon Musk's SpaceX said on Friday its upcoming Starship test flight would include the rocket's first attempt to deploy payloads in space by releasing 10 model Starlink satellites, a key demonstration for Starship's potential in the satellite launch market.