SpaceX founder Elon Musk has announced a Mars mission with his rocket Starship for 2026.
“Starship starts with Optimus on board to Mars at the end of next year,” he wrote on his platform X, alluding to the humanoid robot, which Tesla had presented in 2022. If the landing on the planet – which is at least 54 million kilometers away – depending on the constellation to Earth – should be successful, the multi -illiator -manual manner is aimed at. These could land on Mars in 2029 – “but” is more likely in 2031, “said Musk.
How seriously the announcement of the businessman is unclear. In the past, Musk has repeatedly made ambitious announcements that were not durable in the end. On the other hand, the 53-year-old is close to US President Donald Trump as one of the most innovative entrepreneurs in his generation, who kept leading big projects against all skepticism.
Starship tests remain bumpy
The US room trip authority NASA wants to send astronauts to the moon with the Starship Astronauts, while SpaceX pursues the goal of reaching Mars one day. So far there has been no precise schedule. Most recently, there were several setbacks in tests of the rocket, which is larger than the Statue of Liberty in New York.
During the eighth test flight of the largest rocket system ever built, a few days ago, the upper level broke into many parts – rubble pulled long glowing light strips in the sky above the US state of Florida and the Caribbean. The US flight inspectorate FAA temporarily stopped starts and landings at several airports in Florida. In addition, as always, the authority ordered an investigation after such incidents.
The rocket system was tested for the first time in April 2023 – and at that time completely exploded after a few minutes. In further tests, however, the upper level had reached the all and had also landed in the Indian Ocean.
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New York (dpa-Afx)