SpaceX Mars Colonization Program

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SpaceX has stated its ambition to facilitate the colonization of Mars via the development of the Starship launch vehicle. The company states that this is necessary for the long-term survival of the human species and for the expansion of the scope of human consciousness.^[1]

Elon Musk, who founded SpaceX, first presented his goal of enabling Mars colonization in 2001 as a member of the Mars Society's board of directors. In the 2000s and early 2010s, SpaceX made many vehicle concepts for Mars, including space tugs, heavy-lift launch vehicles, and Red Dragon capsules. The company's current plan was first formally proposed at the 2016 International Astronautical Congress alongside a fully-reusable launch vehicle, the Interplanetary Transport System. Since then, the launch vehicle proposal was altered and renamed to "Starship", and has been in development since. On its third test flight, it reached its desired trajectory for the first time on March 14, 2024. The company has given many estimates of dates of the first human landing on Mars; the most recent discussion of which occurred during a company all hands meeting in April 2024.^[2]

SpaceX's early missions to Mars will involve small fleets of Starship spacecraft, funded by public–private partnerships.^[3]The company hopes that once infrastructure is established on Mars and the launch cost is reduced further, colonization can begin. The Mars program has been criticized by some people as far-fetched, partially because of uncertainties regarding its financing^[4] and because it primarily addresses transportation to Mars and not the steps that follow. George Dvorsky writing for Gizmodo characterized Musk's timeline for Martian colonization as "stupendously unreasonable".^[5] For reference, Musk's timeline for the colonization of Mars involves a crewed mission as early as 2029 and the development of a self-sustaining colony by 2050.^[6]

Some experts, like Robert Zubrin, support the concept due to the prevalence of water ice in the form of permafrost and glaciers on Mars, as well as other resources like carbon dioxide and nitrogen;^[7] some are opposed to the concept, believing the planet's lack of both breathable air and protective magnetosphere to be unacceptable problems.^[8] A common sentiment among those opposed to expanding the scope of human civilization to Mars is that humans should focus on solving the problems on Earth before advancing to extraplanetary colonization.^[9]