Financial Associated Press on September 23 (Editor Huang Junzhi), last Sunday (September 22) Eastern Time, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed his "Mars plan." He posted on X that the company plans to carry out approximately five unmanned starship missions to Mars within two years.

On Sunday, Musk stated that the schedule for the first manned flight mission will depend on the success of the unmanned flight missions. If the unmanned flight missions land safely, then the manned mission will be launched within four years. However, if SpaceX encounters challenges, the manned mission will be delayed for another two years.

Earlier this month, Musk stated that the first interstellar spacecraft heading to Mars will be launched in two years, "when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens." The distance between Earth and Mars is constantly changing, and the launch window for Mars probes occurs approximately every 26 months.

However, all of this is still Elon Musk's vision, as the company's interstellar spacecraft readiness timeline often changes. For example, earlier this year, NASA postponed the Artemis III mission from the original plan of late 2025 to September 2026. This mission will be the first manned lunar landing in the United States in half a century, using SpaceX's Starship spacecraft.

In addition, in June this year, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa canceled a privately funded circumlunar mission planned to be carried out using SpaceX's Starship, citing uncertainties in the Starship's development progress.

According to SpaceX's introduction, the "Starship" is a reusable space transportation system. The rocket has a total length of about 120 meters, a diameter of about 9 meters, and consists of two parts: the first stage is a 70-meter-long "super heavy-duty" booster, and the second stage is a 50-meter-long reusable "Starship" spacecraft. Its design goal is to transport people and goods to Earth's orbit, the Moon, Mars, etc., and can deliver payloads of over 100 tons to Earth orbit.

The "Starship" conducted its first test launch in April 2023, but the rocket exploded before the first and second stages separated. Subsequently, two more test launches were conducted, both of which did not meet the expected goals. In June this year, the "Starship" completed its fourth test launch, achieving its first successful soft landing at sea.

Elon Musk has always hoped that the Starship will achieve his goal of creating a next-generation large multi-purpose spacecraft, capable of sending people and cargo to the moon later in this decade, and ultimately to Mars.

Earlier this year, Musk stated that the first unmanned Starship will land on Mars within five years, and the first humans will land on Mars within seven years. He has also previously stated that once the manned mission to explore Mars is successful, space travel to Mars will experience 'exponential' growth, with the goal of establishing a self-sufficient city on Mars within 20 years.

Editor/Somer