The founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, revealed that his megacraft Starship will make a flight to Mars in the year 2026, transporting Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus. Musk mentioned that if this mission is successful, human landings could begin in 2029, with 2031 being the most likely date for that.
Starship is a key component in Musk's goal of colonizing Mars in the future. With a total height of 123 meters, it is notably taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York, making it the largest and most powerful rocket in the world. NASA expects to use a modified version of Starship as a lunar landing module in its Artemis program, which aims to bring astronauts back to the Moon this decade.
Before these missions can be carried out, SpaceX needs to demonstrate reliability, crew safety, and the capability to conduct in-orbit refueling operations with the megacraft. These aspects are crucial for deep space missions, according to the website dw.
Recently, SpaceX faced a setback with the explosion of the latest test flight of Starship earlier this month, highlighting the technological challenges the company still needs to overcome before achieving its ambitious goals in space.
