On September 7, Elon Musk announced via social media platform X that SpaceX will launch its first uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years, during the next Earth-Mars transfer window. These missions will test the reliability of landing safely on Mars. If successful, crewed flights to Mars could begin in four years. Musk envisions exponential growth in flight frequency, with the ultimate goal of establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars within 20 years.
In April, Musk projected the first uncrewed Starship landing on Mars within five years, and the first human landing within seven. In June, SpaceX successfully completed a breakthrough test mission, where a Starship rocket survived a hypersonic return from space, achieving a landing in the Indian Ocean after orbiting the globe. Starship is central to Musk’s vision of a next-generation spacecraft capable of carrying humans and cargo to the Moon and eventually Mars later this decade.
