Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, has announced that the company’s massive Starship rocket is set to begin its journey to Mars by the end of 2026.
The first mission will carry Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, with plans for human landings possibly starting as early as 2029, though 2031 is a more likely target.
Starship, known as the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, plays a major role in Musk’s vision of making Mars habitable for humans.
NASA is also expecting a customized version of the rocket to be used as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, which aims to send astronauts back to the Moon within this decade.
Before these ambitious missions can take place, SpaceX needs to demonstrate that Starship is safe, reliable, and capable of handling advanced in-orbit refueling, which is crucial for deep space travel.
The company recently faced a challenge when its latest test flight ended in an explosion, despite the successful recovery of the booster during its orbital test. A similar issue had occurred in a previous launch attempt.
A few minutes after liftoff and booster separation, the upper stage of the rocket lost control and started tumbling before communication was lost.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has now instructed SpaceX to carry out an investigation before another flight can be approved.
