Could Starship help humanity establish a city on Mars? Inside SpaceX, Elon Musk's plan

The idea that humans could one day populate and even colonize Mars is one no longer confined to the realm of science fiction.

Astronauts are on the cusp in the years ahead of journeying all the way to the Red Planet, where so far only  rovers and orbiters have dared to venture. And when they do, it's likely they'll make landfall aboard a SpaceX Starship.

Billionaire Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the vision of paving the way to create a self-sustaining colony on the Red Planet. By April 2023, the company rolled out its massive Starship – the rocket/spacecraft combo designed to reach Mars – to its South Texas launch pad for what would be its first of nine flight tests to date .

While Starship has endured a few explosive setbacks in 2025 , SpaceX is preparing for a mission it refers to as flight 10 as early as Sunday, Aug. 24 to get the vehicle's development back on track. But Starship has a long way to go before it can carry the first spacefarers to Mars and fulfill Musk's oft-stated dream of " making life multiplanetary ."