Musk and SpaceX Plan Five Uncrewed Starships to Mars in 2026

Elon Musk and SpaceX plan to launch about five uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years. If those all land safely, then crewed missions are possible in four years. Major delays mean crewed missions will be postponed another two years to the next launch window. It is only possible to travel from Earth to Mars every two years, when the planets are aligned [in the near term].

SpaceX will have to have fuel transfer capabilities. A Starship that reaches low earth orbit might only have 10-20% of its fuel remaining. Tanker Starships with all unneeded weight removed could keep about 10% extra fuel to transfer while keeping enough fuel to land again.

Peter Hague had some additional analysis. SpaceX must be able to:

Recover the Superheavy booster and refly it, or be too constrained by engine production to achieve their goals.

Get Starship to orbit

Adapt Starship for interplanetary travel (e.g. power, radiation hardening, communications) and add landing legs.

Rendezvous and transfer propellant between ships

Increase the flight rate

Improved Raptor 3 engines and another 18 months of optimization could see each Starship able to take 180 tons to Mars.

No matter what happens with landing success in 2026-2027, SpaceX will increase the number of spaceships traveling to Mars exponentially with every transit opportunity. SpaceX want to enable anyone who wants to be a space traveler to go to Mars! That means you or your family or friends – anyone who dreams of great adventure.