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With Elon Musk's vision, SpaceX plans to build a self-sustaining city on Mars, using 1.000 Starship rockets and 20 years of continuous missions to take humans to the red planet.
SpaceX last year installed a sign at Starbase that reads “Gateway to Mars.” Elon Musk founded the company SpaceX was founded in 2002 with money from the sale of PayPal and a determination to colonize the red planet. SpaceX has achieved incredible feats since then, but its most optimistic plan will require at least 20 Starships and another XNUMX years of work, according to Musk himself.
Before founding SpaceX, Elon Musk briefly served on the board of directors of the Mars Society, a nonprofit organization that promotes human exploration of Mars. It was during a plenary session of the organization that Musk announced a project called Mars Oasis, which aimed to install a small greenhouse on the red planet to rekindle public interest in Martian exploration.
Musk is ambitious, and the idea of growing plants on Mars has evolved into something much more complex: transforming humanity into a multi-planetary species capable of surviving a catastrophe on Earth. Or, more pragmatically, creating the infrastructure necessary for a self-sustaining human settlement on Mars.
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“One moment, I could create my own rockets to go to Mars,” Musk must have thought, because 20 years later that’s exactly what he’s doing with Starship.
A thousand Starships to colonize Mars
Although its name and design have changed over the years, the long-term plan for the Starship program remains the same:
A massive, fully and rapidly reusable rocket that can launch more than 100 tons into space at minimal cost. A fleet of such rockets, financed by public and private funds, capable of transporting dozens of people to the red planet to build a manned base there.
Thousands of these rockets flying to Mars whenever the planets are aligned, to build a self-sufficient city of one million people.
SpaceX has yet to demonstrate the first point, but in addition to being ambitious, Elon Musk is optimistic. In 2019, the tycoon estimated that it would take 20 Starships and XNUMX years of launches to build a sustainable city on the red planet.
Furthermore, he estimated the cost of each launch at $2 million, an absurdly low amount by industry standards. Launching a Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket in service, costs 50 times that.
In 2020, Elon Musk presented some additional calculations. The goal of Starship is to fly three times a day, a thousand times a year, launching one megaton into space annually for every ten Starships. “If we build 100 starships per year, we’ll have 1.000 in 10 years, or 100 megatons per year,” he said. “About 100.000 people for every Earth-Mars orbital synchronization.”
Launch windows for Mars open every 26 months, taking advantage of its proximity to Earth. Elon Musk believes that if launches begin in 2028, the Martian city of one million people could materialize just 22 years later, in 2050.
It’s an extremely optimistic view of what a company like SpaceX can accomplish in such a short space of time, but there’s one thing you can’t deny about Elon Musk: His goal has been the same since he founded SpaceX. The company is now worth $180 billion, and Starship exists — we’ve already seen it go into space.
Good idea
He should take advantage and go live on Mars, the Earth would be much better without him here.
Mimme
Envy of ****!!!
Grimes swapped him for a transsexual and we have to be jealous??? I'm out!
Geez, you're one of those who kisses the guy and I've never seen a **** pay like you, lol, everyone is feeling embarrassed for you, **** PAY!!!!
True.
He should be the first to board, be President Marciano…
And the **** would rule the world. LOL
Envy was the first sin in the universe.