Part 6/12:
His long-term goal is “to build a civilization among many star systems,” making life multiplanetary. Musk explains that SpaceX’s Starship is the critical technology, the first rocket capable of such ambitious colonization efforts. He foresees humans arriving on Mars by 2029, with initial missions possibly landing within two to four years before that.
The Challenges of Space Travel and Technological Innovation
Musk candidly recounts his past efforts to fund Mars missions, including trying to purchase ICBMs from Russia to convert into rockets—an ambitious and, frankly, borderline insane plan. He describes tense negotiations with Russian officials over prices, escalating from four million to eight million, and even down to one million dollars per missile.