Elon Musk stated that SpaceX aims to return humans to the Moon and send the first crew to Mars within the next five years, as well as establish permanent cities on the lunar surface within ten years. The publication described these goals as “wildly optimistic”. Musk made these comments in a recent interview with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who guest-hosted Sean Hannity’s radio show on Wednesday.
According to Musk, he envisions transporting “tens of thousands” of people to a base on the Moon within the next ten years, acknowledging that this is “a fairly incredible number, considering that only about a dozen people have been to the Moon so far”. The company plans to land an astronaut on the Moon in two to three years, and then “expand rapidly” so that “anyone can fly to the Moon and Mars”.
Plans for the colonization of the Moon and Mars
The ultimate goal of SpaceX is to create a “full-fledged, self-sustaining city on the Moon, a real metropolis”, where people can live permanently or visit for vacations. Musk noted that transporting people to the Red Planet will be significantly more complex due to the length of the journey. Nevertheless, the head of SpaceX predicted sending the first humans to Mars within the next five years, and then, “hopefully”, thousands within ten to twelve years.
Musk also pledged to expand data processing centers in space, which is one of his company’s stated objectives. He claims that SpaceX will launch its first “AI satellites” next year, and then deploy them on a “large scale” within the next two years.
Source: Forbes
