SpaceX will launch its first uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said in a post on social media platform X.

“These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars,” Musk said, adding if those landings go well, his space company will launch its first crewed flights to Mars in four years.

“Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years,” he said.

In April, Musk had said the first uncrewed starship to land on Mars would be within five years, with the first people landing on Mars within seven years.

In June, a Starship rocket survived a fiery, hypersonic return from space and achieved a breakthrough landing demonstration in the Indian Ocean, completing a full test mission around the globe on the rocket’s fourth try.

He is counting on Starship to fulfill his goal of producing a large, multipurpose next-generation spacecraft capable of sending people and cargo to the moon later this decade, and ultimately flying to Mars.

Two-thirds of active satellites

Musk now controls nearly two thirds of all active satellites orbiting Earth following the launch of the 7,000th Starlink satellite this week, according to satellite tracker CelesTrak.

The internet satellite constellation, which is built and operated by Mr Musk’s company SpaceX, has grown by an average of three satellites per day since the first launch in 2019.

The latest data from non-profit satellite tracker CelesTrak shows that SpaceX has 6,370 active Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit, with several hundred more inactive or deorbited.

The figure, which has risen more than six-fold in just three years, represents just over 62 per cent of all operational satellites, and is roughly 10-times the number of Starlink’s closest rival, UK-based startup OneWeb.

On the other hand, Musk denied a report that his artificial intelligence startup xAI has held talks for a share in future Tesla revenue in return for giving Musk’s electric vehicle maker access to xAI’s technology and resources.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla would license xAI’s artificial-intelligence models to help power its driver-assistance software, full self-driving technology and share some of that revenue with the startup, according to the proposed arrangement as described to investors.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2024