Elon Musk has big plans in his mind about future Mars colonization and the cost of colonizing Mars. Currently, if we think about how much it would cost to build a settlement on Mars, it is almost astronomical $1,000 trillion. It’s impossible to colonize Mars at this time due to the high cost.
CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, believes that with better rocket advancements in the future, we can actually reduce this cost to $25 billion. His vision involves a 1000 fold improvement in rocket and spacecraft technology. According to Musk, building a Mars city would need a minimum of a million tons of equipment; if translated into an astronomical cost, it would cost over $1000 trillion.
Elon Musk’s Plan
Elon has argued that at this time, if we were to carry 1 ton of material to Mars, it would cost $1 billion per ton for payload. If we make similar rocket advancements, we can reduce the cost in the future. As we are making rocket advancements at the current rate, we will surely reduce this cost in the future.
But you may be wondering how many more years we can require to reduce this cost. Elon Musk believes that if we spend a trillion dollars in 40 years, resulting in an annual expenditure of less than $25 billion.
Since your handle is “Whole Mars”, perhaps this lengthy reply is apropos:
Getting the cost per ton to the surface of Mars low enough that humanity has the resources to make life multiplanetary requires a roughly 1000X improvement in rocket & spacecraft technology.
Recent US… https://t.co/BdasygYS5q
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2024
Two days ago, SpaceX successfully tested its Starship’s fifth test flight, and in this test flight, SpaceX created history by catching a heavy booster in mid-air. Catching a heavy booster in the air was one of Musk’s major dreams. Starship aims to send humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. It also aims to be reusable and lower the cost of space travel.
Successfully catching heavy boosters gives Elon Musk full confidence, and the precise ocean landing of the Starship demonstrates the feasibility of this technology. According to Elon Musk, we still need to advance rockets by 1,000 times before we can reduce this cost.
Just as Elon Musk made his case, Rocket Experts on the Internet gave their opinions, and we can certainly reduce the cost between them. Musk’s vision is humanity must leave Earth and make colonization on Mars and beyond, which is multi-planetary.
Liftoff and the final phases of booster catch as seen from the top of our second Starship launch and catch tower at Starbase pic.twitter.com/OPwNoqqRSB
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 14, 2024
If we want to go to Mars as soon as possible, we must prepare much more. Elon is the only person in the world with the vision to colonize Mars. NASA is second on the list to colonize Mars, but SpaceX is far away from NASA; it led the whole space industry to go to Mars.
The announcement has sparked a renewed interest in space exploration and the potential for human life on Mars. As SpaceX continues to refine its technology and work towards its ambitious goals, the world watches with bated breath, eager to see if Musk’s vision will become a reality.
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