Elon Musk claims he will travel directly to Mars and considers the colonization of the Moon a 'distraction'.
Musk has predicted that the first Starship flights to Mars will take place in 2026.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has expressed his desire to skip the journey to the Moon and head directly to Mars. In a post on X, he highlighted that it is crucial to conduct a greater number of rocket launches to increase the payload capacity sent to low Earth orbit and eventually to Mars. Musk responded to the discussion by astrophysicist Peter Hague, who was analyzing the different approaches between those who want to explore Mars and those focusing on creating habitats in space.
Musk emphasized that the key is the amount of mass that can be placed in orbit. According to him, this number should reach the megaton range per year to build a self-sufficient colony on Mars. Hague, however, argued about the need for a large amount of liquid oxygen as fuel for Mars missions, suggesting that this component could account for about 69 percent of all the mass SpaceX intends to send to space for such missions. In contrast, lunar regolith contains approximately 40 percent oxygen, suggesting that manufacturing liquid oxygen from lunar soil could make space travel more economical and effective.
The United States, Russia, and China are leading the race to establish sustainable bases on the Moon, with NASA's Artemis program being one of the most prominent initiatives to prepare for missions to Mars. Nevertheless, Musk views the trip to the Moon as a setback. Responding to Hague's opinion, he insisted on his viewpoint: "No, we are going straight to Mars. The Moon is a distraction."
Hague also commented that while lunar infrastructure should not be a critical element for reaching Mars, it will develop naturally alongside the reduction of launch costs. He stated that at some point, another company will surely develop this infrastructure to obtain resources that could benefit SpaceX's Mars mission.
Musk has communicated that SpaceX plans to send the first Starship spacecraft to Mars in 2026 and will have crewed flights by 2028, provided that the uncrewed missions are successful. Additionally, SpaceX has proposed the Marslink concept to establish an internet network on Mars.
