Elon Musk says SpaceX to launch first Starships to Mars in two years
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SpaceX (SPACE) will launch its first uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens, founder Elon Musk said in a post on X on Saturday.
According to Musk, the uncrewed flights will test the reliability of landing intact on Mars. If successful, “then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years,” he added.
“Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years,” said the billionaire chief of SpaceX (SPACE) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).
In April, Musk had said that the first uncrewed Starship would land on Mars within five years, with people arriving at Mars within seven to nine years.
SpaceX (SPACE) achieved a key goal in June with its Starship rocket, which it touts as the most powerful ever built, by steering the spacecraft to a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
The commercial-space company has ambitions of building a fleet of Starships that can be reused for multiple missions, including returning U.S. astronauts to the moon, exploring deep space, and reaching Mars.