HAWTHORNE, CALIFORNIA — SpaceX's famous CEO, Elon Musk plans to have established a functioning city on Mars by 2050, and here's how he plans to do it.
Mars and Earth align every 2 years, making the time before these alignment periods the obvious launch windows for missions to Mars.
Musk said in various news conferences that he plans to send two unmanned SpaceX Starships to Mars during the next launch window, which would be in 2022.
These first two autonomous, cargo-carrying spacecraft will carry up to 100 tons of power, mining and life support equipment.
If this mission is successful, the plan is to use the next launch window, in 2024, to send two Starships with human pioneers and another two cargo-carrying Starships.
Musk said this first human mission would not be relaxing at all, as all future missions would depend on the success of what these pioneers can accomplish.
These first Mars pioneers would have to deploy all the hardware, establish temporary survival shelters and set up a rocket-fuel production factory.
Establishing this rocket-fuel factory would be difficult under the harsh conditions, but it would be crucial, as it is the only guarantee for the astronauts to return home alive.
The factory would use Mars' frozen water and the carbon dioxide molecules that dominate the planet's very thin atmosphere to create methane and liquid oxygen, a.k.a.
Rocket fuel.
If this very vital first human mission is successful, the next step would be to build more permanent habitats, greenhouses and life support systems. After that, the plan is to focus on growth and rapid expansion — from a village, to a town, to a full Martian city, and eventually to multiple Martian cities.
2026 should then see the launch of a large number of human-carrying Starships.
Soon after that, Musk envisions seeing thousands of Starships with thousands of people launched to Mars during every launch window.