Elon Musk unveils 'radical' SpaceX rocket Starship, which he says will ferry people to Mars

'This is an actual picture, not a rendering,' the billionaire said on Twitter

A person stands beside the Starship test flight rocket at the SpaceX Texas launch site (Elon Musk)

Elon Musk has shared images of a rocket that he says will one day help take up to 100 people to Mars.

The SpaceX boss published a picture of the Starship space craft on Twitter, together with a short video clip of the space hopper at the firm's Texas launch site.

A test flight of the prototype is expected to take place later this year, though an exact launch date is yet to be set.

"Starship test flight rocket just finished assembly at the @SpaceX Texas launch site. This is an actual picture not a rendering," Mr Musk tweeted.

"This is for suborbital VTOL tests. Orbital version is taller, has thicker skins (won't wrinkle) & a smoothly curving nose section."

The roughly 120-foot rocket has a diameter of about 30 foot, he revealed in a series of follow up tweets.

Mr Musk has previously said the Starship rocket could be used in return journeys to Mars when paired with SpaceX's huge Super Heavy rocket booster.

Elon Musk shared a picture of the rocket with the caption: 'Starship test flight rocket just finished assembly at the @SpaceX Texas launch site' (Elon Musk)

He has frequently referenced the designs of previous rockets built by Nasa in the 1950s when talking about the Starship rocket in the past.

"Starship will look like liquid silver," Mr Musk tweeted in December, writing that it is being built using stainless steal and a mixture of alloys.

More details about Starship are expected to be revealed in the coming months.

"I will do a full technical presentation of Starship after the test vehicle we're building in Texas flied, so hopefully March/ April," Mr Musk tweeted.

A fully manned mission to Mars could follow as early as 2024, according to his timeline.