Date:
September 23, 2024
The success of the unmanned starship missions to the Moon and Mars will determine the plan of action for the following manned starship missions.
Elon Musk's out-of-the-world plans have taken a significant turn regarding timelines. With a core motive of sending people first to the Moon and then to Mars, Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to launch five uncrewed starships to Mars to learn the pathways and insights for the following manned crewship missions. The tentative timeline shared for the unmanned starship missions is two years.
Musk has announced the big news on his official X handle. “SpaceX plans to launch about five uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years. If those all land safely, then crewed missions are possible in four years. If we encounter challenges, then the crewed missions will be postponed another two years,” Musk wrote.
The uncrewed missions will play a pivotal role in defining the manned missions in Space. Elon Musk envisioned sending humans to various locations in Space for non-commercial purposes. A breakthrough in this field will open up the possibility for non-technical audiences to travel to space. It will also dramatically eliminate the difficulties existing global space agencies face in their endeavors.
However, Musk’s timelines for the Space expeditions have changed quite frequently over the years. Earlier this month, Musk announced that the first Starships to Mars would be launched within two years of the opening of the next Earth-Mars transfer window.
This window will provide the best route possible through space with minimum fuel spending. The window typically opens every 26 months, providing a trajectory that takes advantage of the sun's gravitational pull to accelerate toward Mars.
Musk also announced that the manned missions will probably launch in the next 4 to 7 years, depending on what is learned from the unmanned missions. Earlier in June, a Starship rocket successfully survived return to Earth in a fiery landing on the Indian Ocean, marking a big breakthrough in landing demonstration of Space missions.
