Elon Musk has confirmed that SpaceX’s Starship is set to travel to Mars by the end of 2026, carrying Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus. The tech billionaire stated that if everything goes according to plan, humans could reach the red planet by 2029, although he acknowledged that 2031 is a more realistic target.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its dual-camera Mastcam-Z imager to capture this image of “Santa Cruz,” a hill within Jezero Crater, on April 29, 2021, the 68th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. (Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS)
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“Starship is the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tons fully reusable and 250 metric tons expendable,” SpaceX states on its website. In US tons, this translates to up to 165 tons fully reusable and up to 275 tons expendable.
Musk has frequently discussed his dream of sending humans to Mars, and recently, he was seen at the White House wearing an “Occupy Mars” shirt.
Billionaire Elon Musk spoke to podcaster Joe Rogan about the future of the X platform under either future President Kamala Harris or future President Donald Trump. (The Joe Rogan experience.)
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“I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars,” reads a quote from Musk on SpaceX’s webpage, outlining the mission of “making humanity multiplanetary.”
Musk’s announcement of a Mars mission coincides with an exciting week for SpaceX.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, March 14, 2025. (SpaceX/NASA)
On Friday, SpaceX and NASA launched a crew to the International Space Station (ISS), tasked with replacing astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded in space for nine months.
Test pilots Wilmore and Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5, 2024, with plans to return to Earth on June 13, 2024. However, due to thruster failures and helium leaks, NASA and Boeing decided to keep the astronauts aboard the ISS rather than risk a dangerous journey home.
