Elon Musk, the South African-born entrepreneur who recently became the second-richest man in the world, has said his company, SpaceX, could land humans on Mars by 2026.
Speaking on a webcast on Tuesday, Musk said that he believed it was an achievable goal within the next six years, and could even be possible within the next four years. He also said that SpaceX hoped to land an unmanned vehicle on the Red Planet by 2022.
As early as 2016, Musk also said that he believed a manned landing on Mars by 2026 was possible.
The ambition rests on SpaceX’s development of the re-usable ‘Starship’ rocket. It is believed that the Starship rocket’s first test flight will be sometime next year.
According to CNBC, Musk has told SpaceX that its immediate and primary priority must be the development of the Starship rocket.