WASHINGTON: SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on Saturday its massive Starship rocket would leave for Mars at the end of 2026 with Tesla humanoid robot Optimus onboard, adding that human landings could follow “as soon as 2029.”

“Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely,” Musk said on his X social network.

Musk, who is also the Tesla CEO, brought out the company’s Optimus robots at an event last year. He said the dancing robots would one day be able to do menial tasks, as well as offer friendship, and expected them to retail for $20,000 to $30,000. Starship — the world’s largest and most powerful rocket — is key to Musk’s long-term vision of colonising Mars. Standing 403 feet tall — about 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty — Starship is designed to eventually be fully reusable.

Nasa is also awaiting a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis programme, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon this decade. But before SpaceX can carry out those missions, it must prove the vehicle is reliable, safe for crew, and capable of complex in-orbit refueling — critical for deep space missions. SpaceX faced a setback this month when its latest test flight of the Starship prototype ended in a fiery explosion.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2025