Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX’s Starship rocket is scheduled to depart for Mars at the end of 2026, with the Tesla humanoid robot Optimus onboard.
Musk noted that human landings on Mars could follow “as soon as 2029,” although 2031 is more likely, depending on the success of earlier missions.
He shared these plans on his X social media account on Saturday.
Starship, currently the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, plays a central role in Musk’s ambitious vision of colonising Mars.
NASA is also awaiting a modified version of the rocket to serve as a lunar lander for its Artemis programme, aimed at returning astronauts to the Moon within the next few years.
However, before SpaceX can execute these groundbreaking missions, the company must prove that Starship is reliable, safe for crewed missions, and capable of complex in-orbit refueling—an essential requirement for deep space missions.
SpaceX recently faced a setback when its latest test flight of the Starship prototype ended in a fiery explosion, despite the successful recovery of the booster during its orbital test.
The failure occurred minutes after liftoff, with the upper stage tumbling uncontrollably before the live video feed was lost.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has required SpaceX to investigate before any future flights can take place.
