SpaceX’s Starship rocket will be on Mars by the end of the decade and a future version will travel between the stars, billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday, days after the company celebrated major progress after the rocket’s third test flight as it works with NASA to return astronauts to the moon.
“This Starship is designed to traverse our entire solar system and beyond,” Musk said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
However, its range is limited “to the cloud of objects surrounding” our solar system, Musk said, responding to a post describing SpaceX “a gateway to Mars… and maybe beyond.”
A future version of Starship “will travel to other star systems,” Musk vowed, noting that this “future Starship” would be “much larger and more advanced” than the current generation.
Musk gave no indication as to whether SpaceX was working on a version of Starship, which is still a prototype, that would be capable of traveling between the stars or how it planned to overcome the many barriers blocking interstellar travel, which scientists believe is technologically possible but is currently in the realm of science fiction and speculation.
The billionaire’s comments come days after SpaceX celebrated success following the rocket’s third test launch last week—the first two ended in explosions last year—though the mission ended prematurely and controllers lost contact with the ship.
