Musk Reveals SpaceX Plan To Explore Mars With 5 Starships In 2 Years

Elon Musk made a bold claim on X that SpaceX plans to launch about five uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years. Musk noted that if all uncrewed missions land safely on the Red Planet, crewed missions are possible in four years’ time. However, according to Musk, that timeline could be threatened by the bureaucratic process.

SpaceX has been taking the realm of space travel and pushing the envelope of what’s possible in the last few years. Most recently, Musk’s space company took part in the first private spacewalk during the Polaris Dawn mission. But it is perhaps SpaceX’s Starship and the company’s Super Heavy rocket that will make the biggest leap in space travel ever by taking humankind back to the Moon and eventually Mars. According to Musk, the thought of humans on Mars will not only be a reality, but may not be as far off as some may think. But only if the bureaucratic red tape gets out of the way.

Musk responded to a tweet yesterday concerning when SpaceX might make it to Mars. In his response, Musk remarked, “SpaceX plans to launch about five uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years. If those all land safely, then crewed missions are possible in four years. If we encounter challenges, then the crewed missions will be postponed another two years.”

While the SpaceX founder noted it is only possible to travel to Mars every two years, he added SpaceX eventually wants to enable anyone who wants to be a space traveler to go to Mars, and that one day there will be “thousands of Starships” going to the Red Planet. However, Musk expressed concern something might happen on Earth, such as a nuclear war, that would threaten civilization’s ability to send supply ships to Mars.

But what might have Musk most concerned right now is the Starship program “being smothered by a mountain of government bureaucracy that grows every year.” Musk gave an example of the “stifling red tape,” noting, “California has spent ~$7 billion dollars and several years on high-speed rail, but only has a 1600 ft section of concrete to show for it!”

Musk’s tweet may have been inspired by former President Trump vowing at a rally in Wilmington, NC over the weekend to get the United States to Mars before his next prospective Presidential term ended in 2029. Former President Trump remarked, “Elon, get those rocket ships going, because we want to reach Mars before the end of my term.” He added, “We will never reach Mars if Kamala wins.”

The owner of X seemed to echo Trump is his tweet, remarking, “While I have many concerns about a potential Kamala regime, my absolute showstopper is that the bureaucracy currently choking America to death is guaranteed to grow under a Democratic Party administration. This would destroy the Mars program and doom humanity.”

Regardless of why Elon posted the tweet this weekend, it is clear he believes Trump is his best chance at getting to Mars. As he expressed in a tweet earlier this month, “We will never reach Mars if Kamala wins.”