SpaceX spaceship

Musk: When humans could travel to Mars

US billionaire Elon Musk believes that humans could travel to Mars as early as 2029. The advisor to President Donald Trump wrote this on X.

As a first step, Musk wants to send a robot developed by his e-car company Tesla to Mars at the end of next year.

If the landing of his company SpaceX's spacecraft with the "Tesla Optimus" robot on board goes well, humans could travel to the planet as early as 2029, Musk wrote on X on Friday. However, 2031 is more likely, he added.

There have been a number of problems during Starship's eight test flights to date. During the most recent test flight last week, the top stage of the rocket exploded again, causing SpaceX to lose contact with the giant rocket. According to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the events must be investigated before a new test flight can take place.

At 123 meters, Starship is the largest and most powerful space rocket to date.(Bild: APA/AP)

At 123 meters, Starship is the largest and most powerful space rocket ever. With this rocket, SpaceX is pursuing the goal of building a fully reusable and therefore more cost-effective rocket. The US space agency NASA initially wants to use a different version of the rocket to resume manned flights to the moon.