Mars Missions

Mars Missions
A Starship arriving at Mars
Status	Early stages of conceptual planning
Flight info
Launch dates	NET 2026 Uncrewed, NET 2028 Crewed
Starship development
See also	Starship Crew Variant, Starship Tanker Variant

The ultimate vision of SpaceX, and Elon Musk, is to make life multiplanetary. A concrete manifestation of this vision would be the construction of a Mars base. This goal would be achieved with hundreds, possibly thousands, of Starship launches - one of the main reasons why Starship needs to be fully and rapidly reusable.

Currently, a very optimistic goals of a first uncrewed flight in 2026 and a first crewed flight in 2028 have been set by SpaceX's founder Elon musk however these will heavily revolve around whether SpaceX can achieve the launch cadence and production rate required for this in such a short space of time while fufilling its role in Artemis III, which will require potenitally over 30 Starship flights alone. The current plan for the optimistic goal of 2026 uncrewed test flights is for five uncrewed Starships to launch to Mars in 2026 .

The ideal window for the uncrewed flights to depart from Earth would be December 2026 and for the crewed flights January 2029 however launch would be expected earlier than this to allow time for refueling on orbit.

The Starbase Parking Garage features a mural dedicated to SpaceX's martian ambitions illustrating large domed habitats and Ships in the martian terrain and Elon has previosly staed that the first Starship to Mars will be named the Heart of Gold in honour of the hitchhikers's guide to the galaxy.

Concept

The fact that Mars is part of SpaceX's very early mission can be seen in the naming of early rocket concepts, such as the Mars Colonial Transporter. Not much information was revealed about concrete plans for the missions to Mars except for some comments by Elon Musk on the possible launch windows and needed capacities. In April 2024, first concept designs were shared on a presentation (see announcements).

However, it is known that key components of any Mars Missions will be the Starship Crew Variant and Starship Tanker Variant, which will dock with each other in LEO to re-fuel the crewed ship for the mission to Mars.

Announcements

10 January 2025 - The Heart of Gold

Elon Musk restated his intentions to name the first ship to Mars Heart of Gold in honour of the hitchhikers's guide to the galaxy..

19 November 2024 - Tiles testing

On the stream for Starship Flight Test 6, SpaceX mentioned recent heat shield material testing in a simulated Martian atmosphere, "as we aim to launch the first Starships to Mars in 2026".

Heat shield material testing under simulated Martian conditions. c SpaceX

22 September 2024

Elon Musk shares more details expanding on the recently announced 2026 & 2028 uncrewed and crewed Starship Mars Missions including the plan for 5 ships to travel to Mars on the first round of flights in 2026, which will be uncrewed. Furthermore, if those land safely, crewed missions in 2028 would be possible. SpaceX plans to increase the number of spaceships travelling to to Mars exponentially with every biannual transit period.

7 September 2024

Elon Musk shares goals of a 2026 uncrewed flight and 2028 crewed flight

10 June 2024

Elon musk revealed during a livestream that the first Starship mission to Mars is aimed for 3 years away which would be around 2027 or 2028. Based on prior 'timelines' this would indicate the first crewed launch in the early 2030s.

15 April 2024

Following a NASA Announcemnent on its Mars Sample Return mission, Elon Musk claimed that 'Starship has the potential to return serious tonnage from Mars within ~5 years'

06 April 2024

A concept image of the Mars transportation was shared on a Starship presentation. The optimistic goal would be to reach a production rate of multiple ships per day during Mars missions.

Mars transport Concept