Elon Musk has shared a glimpse into the progress on his Starship prototype.

The SpaceX boss tweeted an image this week showing the first two parts of what will soon be the ‘test hopper,’ and revealed it could be ready for test flights this coming spring.

Starship – previously known as BFR, Big Falcon Rocket, or the Big F***ing Rocket – is the foundation of Musk’s plans to send humans to Mars.

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Elon Musk has shared a glimpse into the progress on his Starship prototype. The SpaceX boss tweeted an image this week showing the first two parts of what will soon be the ‘test hopper,’ shown above

Musk tweeted out the photo on Monday night, captioning it simply, ‘Stainless Steel Starship.’

In a series of tweets this past weekend, however, the CEO elaborated on the plans for the test vehicle.

Responding to questions from Twitter users, Musk confirmed it would use stainless steel, like the Atlas rocket family.

But, he explained, it will have a ‘different mixture of alloys & new architecture.’

‘Unlike Atlas, Starship is buckling stable on launchpad even when unpressurized,’ Musk said.

‘I will do a full technical presentation of Starship after the test vehicle we’re building in Texas flies, so hopefully March/April,’ he added.

Just last month, the SpaceX boss doubled down on his earlier claims that he would likely be among the interplanetary travelers who make the trip to Mars, despite there being a ‘good chance’ that he’ll die there.

Tickets on Elon Musk’s spaceship to Mars will cost around $200,000 per person.

Starship – previously known as BFR, Big Falcon Rocket, or the Big F***ing Rocket – is the foundation of Musk’s plans to send humans to Mars. An artist's impression is pictured

While Musk initially referred to his interplanetary ship as the BFR, he recently announced it will be called Starship moving forward.

Specifically, the spaceship, or upper stage of the rocket will be referred to as Starship, while the rocket booster is called the 'Super Heavy,' Musk explained on Twitter.

Pictured, Elon Musk speaks during an unveiling event for the Boring Co earlier this month

'Renaming BFR to Starship,' Musk wrote in a tweet. 'Technically, two parts: Starship is the spaceship/upper stage & Super Heavy is the rocket booster needed to escape Earth's deep gravity well (not needed for other planets or moons.'

He added that later versions will be sent on missions to other star systems, giving credence to its 'Starship' name.

SpaceX shared new details about the 387ft rocket in September, saying it hopes to begin unmanned launch tests of the spacecraft in late 2019.

In the future, Starship will be able to carry out lunar missions as well as long-distance flights to Mars and beyond.

WHAT IS ELON MUSK'S 'BFR'? The BFR (Big F***ing Rocket), now known as Starship, will complete all missions and is smaller than the ones Musk announced in 2016. The SpaceX CEO said the rocket would take its first trip to the red planet in 2022, carrying only cargo, followed by a manned mission in 2024 and claimed other SpaceX's products would be 'cannibalised' to pay for it. The rocket would be partially reusable and capable of flight directly from Earth to Mars. Once built, Musk believes the rocket could be used for travel on Earth - saying that passengers would be able to get anywhere in under an hour. Advertisement

The firm hopes to stage an uncrewed flight to Mars in 2022, then a manned flight in 2024.

In between those missions, SpaceX has planned for a private mission with a passenger on board in 2023.

'We would like to put large cargo on the surface of the moon by 2022,' SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said recently.

'And we have our eyes on the prize to send people to Mars in 2024.'