Spacex rocket will fly round the world in an hour… and on to Mars
A billionaire tech entrepreneur plans to land at least two cargo ships on Mars by 2022 – using a rocket he claims will also be able to take humans anywhere on Earth within an hour.
Elon Musk unveiled his updated plans for colonising the red planet at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia.
“I feel fairly confident we can build the ship and be ready for the launch in five years. Five years seems like a long time for me,” said the Spacex chief executive, who also revealed plans for a lunar base.
Mr Musk wants craft carrying crews to Mars to arrive in 2024, with the cargo ships having placed power, mining and life-support infrastructure on the planet two years earlier.
Spacex currently has a fleet of three spacecraft, which the Tesla boss wants to become obsolete. Instead, Mr Musk told the audience his company will begin stockpiling the Fal- con 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon spacecrafts, and put all of its resources into building the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) – codenamed the BFR, or “Big F***ing Rocket”.
Mr Musk believes Spacex can finance its Mars ambitions from its current work launching satellites and servicing the International Space Station (ISS).
The 46-year-old unveiled the combo rocket and spaceship at the same conference last year, but announced a stripping back of the BFR to contain fewer main engines – 31 – while he also released a concept video showing the spacecraft’s potential journey between New York and Shanghai.
“BFR will take you anywhere on Earth in less than 60 mins,” Mr Musk wrote on Twitter.
Spacex plans to start building the first spaceship, which Mr Musk said is the company’s cheapest yet, by the middle of 2018. The ITS would be capable of carrying around 100 people spread out over 40 cabins.
Mr Musk also shared concept images of the spacecraft landing on Mars, saying he wanted to make the red planet “a nice place to be”.