Politics
SpaceX Provides Major Update On Upcoming Mars Mission
Elon Musk has confirmed that SpaceX’s Starship will be heading to Mars by the end of 2026. Musk — who has long tested that a manned mission to Mars is one of the top priorities of his lifetime — further announced that the ship will be carrying Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus. If the mission goes well, Musk stated that humans could be traveling to the red planet by 2029, though he cautioned that 2031 is a more realistic timeframe.
In response to Musk’s X post, the official page for Tesla’s optimist project responded with two words: “Hold on.”
SpaceX has long been leading the space industry in reusable rocket technology with its Starship project .”Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable,” SpaceX writes on its website. In US tons, that amounts to 165 tons of fully reusable and up to 275 tons expendable.
Musk, who was recently sporting an “Occupy Mars” t-shirt at the White House, has long stated that a mission to the red planet is his top priority with SpaceX. “I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars,” a quote from Musk reads on SpaceX’s webpage on its mission of “making humanity multiplanetary.”
Starship SN9 sitting on the launch pad with the build site in the background ahead of its test flight.
Photo: Jared Krahn
In February, SpaceX made history by launching a rocket into space from Florida and landing its Falcon 9 rocket booster in the Bahamas. SpaceX reportedly said its Falcon 9 was able to maximize its performance by landing in the Bahamas after launching into a southeast trajectory from Florida.
The company further explained that the chosen launch trajectory allowed it to deploy more satellites into orbit, and also improved conditions for rockets to launch human space flight missions to explore earth.
