SPACEX’S Starship and heavy booster -- the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket system -- will launch for Mars by 2026, and human landings on the Red Planet will likely begin in 2031, said billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday. In a post shared on social media platform X, SpaceX CEO Musk said Starship will carry Tesla humanoid robot Optimus to Mars. If conditions look suitable for humans, it could start “as soon as 2029.” “Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus,” Musk said. “If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely,” he added. The Starship -- huge 30-footwide, 397-foot-tall rocket -- is key to Musk’s long-term vision of colonising Mars. Starship consists of a giant first-stage booster called Super Heavy and a 50-meter upper-stage spacecraft known as Starship. Musk plans to shift at least one million people to Mars, he shared on X, last year.

 

“Civilisation onlypasses the single-planetGreatFilterwhen Mars can survive even if Earth supply ships stop coming,” he added.“Oneday,atrip to Mars will be like a flight across the country”.Healsoaims tobuild a base on the Moon. “Humanity should have a moonbase,citiesonMars,and be outthere among the stars,” the X owner said.Meanwhile, the Starship faced a setback earlierthismonth,withSpaceX losing contact with the spacecraft shortly after the launch of the eighth test flight. About seven minutes after liftoff on March 7, Starship’s giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy was caughtbytheStarbase’slaunch tower, using the structure’s “chopstick” arms, called “Mechazilla,” on the launch tower. However,theStarshipspacecraft lost altitude control and lost communication with the ground. “Final contact with Starship came approximately 9minutesand30secondsafter liftoff,” SpaceX said. SpaceXhadlostcontactwith Ship even during the Seventh test flight.