SpaceX Starship Mars Mission Begins in 2026 with Uncrewed Flights, Elon Musk Reveals

Elon Musk announces SpaceX will launch Starship missions to Mars by 2026, starting with uncrewed test flights to ensure landing safety.

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 10 September 2024 14:12 IST

SpaceX Starship Mars Mission Begins in 2026 with Uncrewed Flights, Elon Musk Reveals

Photo Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX's Starship rocket launches on its fourth fully integrated test flight, on June 6, 2024.

Highlights

SpaceX Starship to begin Mars missions in 2026 with uncrewed test flights
Elon Musk says the first crewed Mars flight is expected soon
The long-term goal of SpaceX is to build a self-sustaining city on Mars

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has announced that the company aims to start launching Starship missions to Mars in 2026. These initial missions will be uncrewed and designed to test the reliability of landing safely on Mars. If these test flights are successful, the first crewed missions could begin as early as four years later. The goal is to pave the way for creating a self-sustaining city on Mars within 20 years, which Musk believes is crucial for the long-term survival of human consciousness beyond Earth.

Starship: A Groundbreaking Rocket

The Starship rocket, made from stainless steel, consists of two parts: the Super Heavy first-stage booster and the 165-foot-tall upper-stage spacecraft, Starship. Together, the stacked rocket stands about 400 feet tall, making it the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. It generates 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, nearly double that of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), which is part of the Artemis moon program.

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While SLS is designed for single use, Starship is intended to be fully reusable. SpaceX plans to land the Super Heavy booster back on the launch mount after each liftoff, enabling rapid inspection and turnaround for future flights. This reusability is seen as key to making Mars colonisation feasible and bringing Musk's long-held vision of interplanetary settlement within reach.

Mars Mission Timeline

The first crewless missions in 2026 will mark an important step toward Musk's ultimate goal of building a city on Mars. If all goes according to plan, SpaceX intends to significantly increase the rate of missions in the coming years. With each flight improving upon the last, the fifth test flight of Starship is already being prepared. SpaceX will attempt to land the Super Heavy booster back on the launch pad using the tower's “chopstick” arms, promising an exciting next chapter for space exploration.

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