SpaceX to launch first Starship to Mars in two years, says CEO Musk

SpaceX will launch its first uncrewed Starship to Mars in two years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has announced on Saturday.

Elon Musk stated that these will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars. He added that if those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in four years.

Taking to X, Elon Musk stated, "The first Starships to Mars will launch in 2 years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens. These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars.

"If those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years. Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years. Being multiplanetary will vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness, as we will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet," he added.

In another post on X, Musk stated that SpaceX created the first fully reusable rocket stage and made the reuse economically viable.

"SpaceX created the first fully reusable rocket stage and, much more importantly, made the reuse economically viable. Making life multiplanetary is fundamentally a cost per ton to Mars problem," Musk posted on X.

"It currently costs about a billion dollars per ton of useful payload to the surface of Mars. That needs to be improved to USD 100k/ton to build a self-sustaining city there, so the technology needs to be 10,000 times better. Extremely difficult, but not impossible," he added.

In June this year, SpaceX's Starship, the most powerful launch vehicle ever made, launched and achieved key objectives planned for its fourth test flight that showcased the vehicle's reusability, CNN reported.

It was launched from a private Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on June 6 at 8:50 am ET and the company streamed live coverage on X.

The Starship launch system has the upper Starship spacecraft and a rocket booster known as the Super Heavy. According to SpaceX broadcast, of the rocket's 33 engines, 32 lit during the launch of the Starship, according to CNN report.

The vehicle achieved multiple milestones during the test flight, including the survival of the Starship capsule upon reentry during peak heating in Earth's atmosphere and splashdown of both the capsule and booster.

After separating from the spacecraft, the Super Heavy booster for the first time executed a landing burn and had a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico after eight eight minutes of the launch.

Meanwhile, the Starship capsule achieved orbital insertion. Around 50 minutes following the launch, the spacecraft started its controlled reentry journey, and a colourful buildup of plasma could be witnessed around the vehicle as its heat shield faced the extreme temperatures of Earth's atmosphere, CNN reported.

The Starlink satellites of the company helped in the livestream that was continuously available during reentry. A flap near the camera view on Starship seemed to scorch during reentry, and particulate matter blocked some of the view of the camera, the report said. In the end, Starship was able to achieve its expected landing burn into the Indian Ocean.