In a recent post on X, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk outlined his vision for making life multiplanetary, emphasizing the need for a significant leap in rocket technology to reduce costs.
What Happened: On Monday, Musk responded to a post about the cost of launching to low earth orbit. He explained that to make life multiplanetary, rocket and spacecraft technology needs to improve by 1000X. He pointed out that recent US Mars missions have cost about $1B per ton of useful load to the surface of Mars, a figure that has been increasing over time.
Musk emphasized the monumental cost hurdles humanity faces in making life on Mars a reality, while expressing optimism about future advancements in rocket technology. Musk, responding to a user with the handle “Whole Mars Catalog.”
Musk began by acknowledging the astronomical costs involved, stating that recent U.S. Mars missions have had a cost per ton of useful load to the Martian surface at around $1 billion. "It has become more, not less, expensive over time!" he added, stressing the increasing difficulty of reducing these costs with existing technology.
He explained that building a self-sustaining city on Mars would require at least a million tons of equipment, amounting to a cost of over $1,000 trillion. Musk highlighted the impracticality of this figure, pointing out that it far exceeds the current U.S. GDP of $29 trillion.
However, Musk expressed confidence that advancements in rocket technology could bring this cost down by 1,000 times, potentially making the total cost for colonization around $1 trillion. He added that if this could be spread over 40 years, it would translate to less than $25 billion annually, a more feasible number that “wouldn't materially affect people's standard of living on Earth.”
Musk specifically pointed to SpaceX's Starship, which is designed to achieve the 1,000X improvement needed to reduce costs. He noted the success of recent tests, stating, "especially after yesterday's booster catch and precise ocean landing of the ship, I am now convinced that it can work."
Why It Matters: Musk’s SpaceX has been making strides towards this goal. On Sunday, the company’s Starship had its fifth test flight, following a long battle with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Starship, touted as the most powerful rocket ever built, successfully completed the flight, which included a first-of-its-kind "catch" of the booster back at the launch tower.
This significant accomplishment for SpaceX follows nearly 18 years after its first rocket launch. The Starship’s design demonstrates reusability, a crucial factor in reducing costs and making Musk’s vision of affordable Mars colonization a reality.
Image via Shutterstock
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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Shivdeep Dhaliwal
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