Elon Musk announced that SpaceX plans to launch its first uncrewed Starships to Mars within the next two years.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX, the satellite communications company will launch its first unmanned Starships to Mars in two years during the next Earth-Mars transfer window. Musk made the announcement in a post on the social networking platform X on Saturday.
Musk stated, "These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars," and he added that his space company would conduct its first crewed missions to the planet in four years if those unmanned landings go well.
He added, "Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years.”
The billionaire, who established SpaceX in 2002, declared in April that the first unmanned spacecraft would touch down on Mars in five years and that the first humans would follow in seven.
A Starship rocket completed a full test voyage around the world on its fourth attempt in June, surviving a fiery, supersonic return from space and accomplishing a ground-breaking landing demonstration in the Indian Ocean.
Musk is relying on Starship to help him achieve his objective of building a sizable, multifunctional next-generation spacecraft that can travel to Mars and the moon later this decade with passengers and cargo.
