US EditionTrump Wants $1 Billion for Private-Sector-Led Mars Exploration
- U.S. President Donald Trump released a 2026 NASA budget proposal allocating over $1 billion for private-sector-led Mars exploration on Friday night.
- The proposal follows criticism of cuts to NASA’s science programs and supports contracts for companies to develop Mars mission technologies amid some industry resistance.
- Meanwhile, SpaceX founder Elon Musk outlined a plan to launch an uncrewed Starship carrying Tesla-built humanoid robots to Mars by late 2026, with crewed missions planned later.
- Musk acknowledged a 50% chance of meeting the 2026 launch window, citing recent Starship test failures but calling setbacks "good data" and pledging accelerated development.
- Trump’s budget and Musk’s vision together indicate a growing emphasis on private-sector roles in Mars exploration but face challenges from technical hurdles and political opposition.
14 Articles
14 Articles
3 months transit time to Mars for human missions using SpaceX Starship
Historically, spacecraft have followed trajectories that took between six and nine months to reach Mars, using traditional chemical propulsion on roughly Hohmann transfers. It is commonly believed that advances in propulsion technology, such as nuclear thermal or VASIMR, are necessary to reduce that transit time. In this paper, we show the feasibility of transit to Mars using the SpaceX Starship taking 90 days. We outline two trajectories that r…
Missions to Mars with the Starship Could Only Take Three Months
In a recent paper, UCSB physicist Jack Kingdom identified a trajectory for a rapid transit (90 days) to Mars using SpaceX's Starship. This proposal offers an alternative to mission architectures that rely on nuclear propulsion to reduce transit times.
At that time, only robots would travel, but the plan is to have one million human Mars colonists by 2050.
Mars by 2026? The 4 key takeaways from Elon Musk's Starship update
SpaceX's billionaire founder Elon Musk says that despite Starship setbacks, the space company hasn't taken its eyes off the ball — and that ball is big, red, and roughly 140 million miles away. In a 42-minute video posted to X on Thursday evening, Musk laid out a plan to launch the mammoth spacecraft to Mars for the first time as early as next year. His ultimate vision has been to use a fleet of Starships to send 1 million humans to Mars by 2050…
While humanity has never yet set foot on Mars, Elon Musk repeats boldness. SpaceX's boss has recently delivered new details on his Martian conquest calendar, confirming a first demonstration flight from Starship to the Red Planet by the end of 2026. His goal, to establish the bases of a human colony on Mars by the next decade, an ambition as dizzying as it is unthinkable.
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