Elon Musk says first SpaceX mission to Mars will launch next year

The billionaire says an unmanned mission by his SpaceX "Starship" vehicle will be followed by human landings as early as 2029.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcastsRadioAudio FAQsVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveWeatherNewslettersMusk says first mission to Mars will launch next year1 day agoShareSaveSeher AsafBBC NewsShareSaveGetty ImagesSpaceX founder Elon Musk has said his Starship rocket will head to Mars by the end of next year, as the company investigates several recent explosions in flight tests.

Human landings could begin as early as 2029 if initial missions go well, though "2031 was more likely", he added in a post on his social media platform X.

Starship - the largest rocket ever created standing at 123m - is crucial to Musk's ambitions to colonise the planet Mars.

However it has suffered multiple failures in tests - one of the rockets exploded minutes after it was launched from Texas as part of a test last week, the second failure this year after a similar "rapid unscheduled disassembly" in January.

SpaceX said it would review data "to better understand [the] root cause" of the most recent explosion and noted it happened after the loss of "several" engines.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2g88y52y8o

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