With his new buddy Donald Trump now back in the White House, SpaceX boss Elon Musk has renewed hope of getting the first humans to Mars before the end of this decade.
During his inauguration speech on Monday, President Trump said that his administration “will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”
At a speech delivered by Musk soon after, Musk, never one to shy away from grandiose proclamations, told his audience, “It’s thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured.”
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He went on: “Can you imagine how awesome it will be to have American astronauts plant the flag on another planet for the first time? How inspiring would that be?”
The SpaceX boss said last year that the immediate plan was to launch the first Starship missions to Mars in 2026. These uncrewed flights would test the reliability of the spacecraft’s landing system, as well as its ability to lift off again to bring the astronauts home.
If that goes to plan, Musk said the first crewed flight could take place “in four years,” in other words, before the end of Trump’s presidency in January 2029.
Of course, there are a lot of “ifs” in there, some of them as large as the enormous Starship rocket that will embark on the ambitious Mars mission.
The 120-meter-tall rocket, which comprises the first-stage Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship, has only flown seven times to date, and while much progress has been made since the first test flight in 2023 when the entire vehicle blew up in midair, the most recent flight, which took place last month, saw the spacecraft disintegrate over the Caribbean.
But with Trump apparently backing the Mars endeavor, Musk is anticipating potential regulatory relief that could accelerate Starship test launches, which he has previously claimed were hindered by excessive regulations.
Indeed, as Trump’s new efficiency czar, Musk himself is now tasked with slashing excess regulations, as well as dismantling government bureaucracy, cutting wasteful expenditure, and restructuring federal agencies. Some critics have raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest, though Musk looks set to take up what is essentially an advisory role from this week.
While some may question how Musk’s task of reducing government spending tallies with his hope of getting humans to Mars — hardly a low-cost project — it’s worth noting that the partnership between NASA and SpaceX has already demonstrated cost savings compared to traditional government-led space programs.
By leveraging SpaceX’s innovative approach and reusable technology, the overall cost of a human Mars exploration should work out lower than if NASA were to develop all of the necessary systems independently.
The public-private partnership model also aligns with NASA’s goal of fostering the U.S. private space industry, potentially leading to more efficient use of government resources in the long term.