When will « Starchip » take off to Mars?

Just two days after the ninth test flight of the Starchip spacecraft ended with an explosion, Elon Musk announced that he plans to send a giant rocket to Mars by the end of next year. In fact, the possibility of flight to Mars will depend on whether the spacecraft can do a series of complex technical tasks during subsequent tests, including a refueling maneuver in the country’s orbit after launch. A short flight window opens at the end of 2026, when Earth and Mars are aligned so that the distance between the planets will be minimal. The chances of fulfilling this deadline are 50 %. If Starchip is not ready by then, Spacix will have to wait two more years.

The first flight will be driven by one or more humanoid robots « Tesla Optimus », while a second or third mission is planned to travel with crew to Mars. According to earlier statements, Musk’s final plans are to send 1,000 to 2,000 spaceships on Mars every two years in order to quickly form a self -sustaining human colony. Initially, Musk hoped to send a drone on Mars back in 2018, and a crew mission until last year. On the other hand, NASA still aims to bring people back to the surface of the moon, also with the help of the Starchip rocket – more than half a century since the last mission of the Apollo program. When it comes to Mars, the US space agency does not plan to send astronauts to the 2030s.