Washington, United States:
SpaceX founder Elon Musk mentioned Saturday its huge Starship rocket would go away for Mars on the finish of 2026 with Tesla humanoid robotic Optimus onboard, including that human landings might comply with “as quickly as 2029.”
“Starship departs for Mars on the finish of subsequent yr, carrying Optimus. If these landings go properly, then human landings could begin as quickly as 2029, though 2031 is extra probably,” Musk mentioned on his X social community.
Starship departs for Mars on the finish of subsequent yr, carrying Optimus.
If these landings go properly, then human landings could begin as quickly as 2029, though 2031 is extra probably. https://t.co/JRBB95sgNN
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 15, 2025
Starship — the world’s largest and strongest rocket — is essential to Musk’s long-term imaginative and prescient of colonizing Mars.
NASA can also be awaiting a modified model of Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, which goals to return astronauts to the Moon this decade.
However earlier than SpaceX can perform these missions, it should show the car is dependable, secure for crew, and able to advanced in-orbit refueling — important for deep house missions.
SpaceX confronted a setback this month when its newest take a look at flight of the Starship prototype led to a fiery explosion, even because the booster was efficiently caught in its orbital take a look at.
It was a close to replay of the earlier try.
Minutes after liftoff and booster separation, a reside video feed confirmed the higher stage tumbling uncontrollably earlier than the sign abruptly minimize.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mentioned SpaceX can be required to conduct an investigation earlier than it may well fly once more.
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