Elon Musk has repeated it numerous times: his dream is to make humanity a multiplanetary civilization. In that vision, Mars is the key piece. But it is not just a futuristic aspiration; SpaceX, the rocket company founded by the billionaire, is taking concrete steps to achieve it. This week, it marked a historic milestone with its flagship spacecraft, Starship, successfully recovering the gigantic booster of its Super Heavy rocket.
A technological leap towards the future
The core of SpaceX's vision is the creation of rockets that can be reused multiple times, as if they were airplanes. This approach significantly reduces costs, making them much more accessible.
The milestone reached this week with the Starship spacecraft has been one of the most exciting to date. After a nine-minute test flight, the massive 70-meter-tall booster, known as Super Heavy, returned to the launch pad and was accurately caught by mechanical arms dubbed "the chopsticks". With this maneuver, the SpaceX team not only demonstrated the spacecraft's recovery capability but also the safety and stability required for its future use in more complex missions.
This is no small achievement. This rocket, with its 5,000 tons and 120 meters in height, is the largest and most powerful one built so far. The mid-flight recovery of the booster, with the delicacy and precision required for this operation, opens the door for these rockets to be used not just for one launch, but for dozens of them. In other words, we are witnessing how SpaceX is transforming the way we conceive space travel.
Starship: the spaceship that will take us to Mars
The Starship spacecraft is the crown jewel of SpaceX. It is not only intended for missions in Earth's orbit, but also to reach more ambitious destinations, such as Mars and the Moon. Its design has undergone numerous changes and improvements since the early prototypes, and each test brings us closer to the day when we will see the first humans take off towards the red planet.
With a reusable payload capacity of up to 150 tons and 250 tons in disposable mode, Starship has the potential to transport large amounts of supplies as well as people. But it doesn't stop there: one of its goals is to be able to conduct intercontinental trips on Earth in less than an hour, connecting distant points on the planet at an unprecedented speed.
So far, SpaceX has carried out five test missions with Starship, each showing progress in the vehicle's efficiency. The launches, which took place in April and November 2023, as well as in March, June, and October 2024, have been crucial in refining the technology. Although there is still a long way to go before the spacecraft is fully operational, each test increases the chances that this megarocket will be ready for its main goal: carrying humans to Mars.
Why Mars and not another destination?
Mars has been a tempting target for scientists and engineers for decades. Its relative proximity to Earth and rocky surface make it more accessible than other planets in the solar system. But it's not just a matter of location.
Mars has a day-night cycle similar to Earth's, a feature that would facilitate human adaptation; however, its current atmosphere is very different from ours. Composed mostly of carbon dioxide, with traces of nitrogen and argon, the Martian atmosphere is too thin to provide protection against meteorite impacts and solar radiation.
Musk's plan to make Mars habitable focuses on terraforming the planet. In simple terms, this involves changing the environmental conditions to make them more similar to those of Earth. One of the proposed strategies is to "compress" the atmosphere to increase its density, which would help retain solar heat and stabilize the planet's temperature. By increasing the density of the atmosphere, plants could be cultivated and, eventually, a self-sustaining ecosystem could be created.
Multiple launches, big goals
To establish a permanent colony on Mars, SpaceX estimates that it will need around 1000 Starship launches, spread out over two decades. This rapid pace of missions is necessary due to the alignment of Earth and Mars, which only occurs every 26 months. Each launch window allows spacecraft to reach the red planet with lower fuel consumption and in an optimal timeframe.
In each of these windows, it is expected to transport large amounts of materials, from construction equipment to life support systems, not including the crew. According to Musk, the idea is that each Starship flight can carry up to 100 tons of cargo to Mars. In this way, the project would gradually consolidate, with the construction of the first bases and eventually complete cities.
"The key to becoming a multiplanetary civilization is to make space travel as common as air travel," Musk has pointed out on several occasions. To achieve this, SpaceX has focused on designing efficient engines and using affordable fuels. The Raptor engines of Starship burn liquid oxygen and methane, two resources that could be obtained directly from Mars, thus reducing dependence on Earth supplies.
Missions to Mars: the great challenge
The road to Mars is full of technical and logistical challenges. Despite Musk's enthusiasm, the first crewed missions will not arrive before 2028, at best. Until then, SpaceX plans to launch up to five unmanned ships to the planet in the next two years. These missions will aim to test the spacecraft's ability to safely land on the Martian surface, as well as to deliver the first batches of supplies and equipment.
Each successful landing will bring SpaceX a little closer to its goal of sending the first colonists. But even if there are delays —something common in projects of this magnitude—, the company plans to exponentially increase the number of ships in each new launch opportunity. Musk has stated that his goal is to carry out up to three flights daily, achieving more than 1000 launches per year. This frequency would not only allow for sending large amounts of cargo, but also for preparing the infrastructure for future manned missions.
The role of SpaceX in lunar exploration
Before Mars, SpaceX has a commitment with NASA to assist in humanity's return to the Moon. As part of the Artemis program, SpaceX is developing a lunar landing module based on Starship. This module will be crucial for the planned lunar missions for 2026, with the goal of transporting astronauts and heavy cargo to the satellite's surface. This effort will also serve as a litmus test for Starship's capabilities in extreme conditions and will mark the beginning of a new era of collaboration between SpaceX and the US space agency.
And although the challenges are enormous, the progress of the company invites us to imagine a future in which establishing bases on Mars or traveling to other planets is no longer science fiction, but a daily reality.