Elon Musk Announces 2026 Uncrewed and 2028 Crewed SpaceX Starship Mars Missions

Sep 7, 2024, 10:48 PM

Elon Musk has announced a detailed timeline for SpaceX's ambitious Mars mission. According to Musk, the first uncrewed Starships will launch to Mars in 2026 during the next Earth-Mars transfer window to test landing reliability. If these missions are successful, the first crewed flights to Mars will occur in 2028. SpaceX aims to establish a self-sustaining city on Mars within approximately 20 years. The Starship system, which is fully reusable, is expected to significantly reduce the cost of space travel compared to previous rockets like the Saturn V, which cost about $1.4 billion per launch in 2022 dollars. The Starship system's cost is projected to be in the tens of millions of dollars. SpaceX's goal of 100% reusability marks a significant advancement in space technology. However, Musk's recent statement to NASA indicated that the HLS Moon contract, for which SpaceX has been almost fully paid, will not be fulfilled until at least 2029.