Elon Musk, speaking at the International Astronautical Congress in Azerbaijan, stated that SpaceX could achieve a spacecraft landing on Mars in three to four years. He also expressed optimism about the success of the SpaceX Starship’s upcoming launch.
In a videoconference at the event, Musk discussed SpaceX’s Mars landing plans and the Starship’s potential for success. SpaceX had previously launched Starship for an uncrewed test flight, but it experienced an explosion in mid-air during the mission, which was intended to be a 90-minute debut flight but lasted less than four minutes.
Musk acknowledged the challenges and noted that SpaceX did not want to set expectations too high following the April explosion. He emphasized his long-standing ambition of landing humans on Mars with the Starship rocket.
However, the Starship program faced a setback when it was grounded by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in September. The FAA cited multiple factors that may have contributed to the April mishap and outlined 63 corrective actions that SpaceX must take to prevent future incidents.
Despite SpaceX’s claims that it has addressed the FAA’s concerns, the company has not yet received a launch license from the federal regulator. Additionally, it will need to obtain further environmental approvals for its launches.
