Elon Musk has confirmed that SpaceX’s Starship is set to launch for Mars by the end of 2026, and it will carry Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus.
According to Musk, if everything goes as planned, humans could reach Mars as early as 2029—though he acknowledged that 2031 is a more realistic target.
The X account for Optimus replied to Musk’s announcement with just two words: “Hold on.”
“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 is up to 165 tons of fully reusable and up to 275 tons expendable.
Musk has long talked about his dream of sending men to Mars, and recently he was spotted in the White House wearing an “Occupy Mars” shirt.
“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.”
Musk’s announcement of a mission to Mars comes during an exciting week for SpaceX.
On Friday, SpaceX and NASA launched a crew headed for the International Space Station (ISS) with astronauts who will replace Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck in space for nine months.
Test pilots Wilmore and Williams launched into space aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5, 2024, with plans to return to Earth on June 13. However, thruster failures and helium leaks forced NASA and Boeing to keep the astronauts aboard the ISS rather than risk a dangerous return trip. Elon Musk reportedly offered to bring them home last year, but Joe Biden refused, unwilling to hand a key Trump ally good publicity.
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One of the stranded astronauts confirmed Musk’s account during a video press conference last week, when a Washington Post reporter asked, “Elon Musk has said that he made the offer to bring you guys back earlier and that it was denied… Is that true?”
“I can only say that what Elon Musk says is absolutely factual,” astronaut Barry Wilmore replied. “I don’t know all those details, and I don’t think any of us really can give you the answer that maybe that you would be hoping for.”
SpaceX’s Crew-10 joint mission with NASA launched Friday. The launch was a success. If you didn’t watch it live, I highly recommend it.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster also landed successfully—here’s viedo of that.
Once the Crew-10 astronauts arrive at the ISS—expected Saturday night around 11:30 p.m. EDT—Wilmore and Williams are set to depart as early as 4 a.m. EDT on Wednesday with Hague and Gorbunov.
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