Elon Musk Says SpaceX Starship Rocket Could Fly Commercially In 2020

Space X led by Elon Musk aims to fly humans to Mars and Moon by 2020. Progressively, Mars voyages will become as frequent as commercial air travel.

This was revealed by Musk at Boca Chica, Texas, on Saturday during a presentation that traced a road map of Space X Mars rocket to the Red Planet.

At the end of the event, Musk disclosed his expectation on when would SpaceX transport the first people on Starship.

“I think we could potentially see people fly next year if we get to orbit in about six months,” Musk said.

Musk updated on the progress and outlook on Starship and the Super Heavy booster that would launch the space vehicle. The important feature will be that it will have landing legs, to return to earth and can land upright similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets.

“This is the most inspiring thing I've ever seen,” Musk said, addressing the audience while standing in front of the Starship Mk1 prototype space vehicle.

There was a reason for Elon Muk's confidence. Already the rocket's prototype named Starhopper has completed two low-altitude flights with a single Raptor engine.

In the next step, the flight of a triple-engine prototype Mk1 will take place to an altitude of about 12 miles or 20 kilometers.

After that the test flight will take to a height of 65,000 feet, Musk now hopes SpaceX’s next test flight could make it to space.

“Our next flight after that might just be a flight all the way to orbit with the booster and a ship,” Musk said.

Mars as the immediate destination

Reaching Mars remains the top agenda of SpaceX. Musk announced his Mars ambitions three years ago and said SpaceX would take humans to the Red Planet with a two-stage, reusable rocket.

“We’re building Starships as fast as we can ... it’s going to be nutty to see a bunch of these things,” Musk reassured at the event.

For resilience and better design Starship will be using 301 stainless steel considering its strength to withstand extreme temperatures, per Musk.

The CEO is confident that humans can go to other places in the solar system including Saturn. But the immediate focus is to hit the fastest path to a self-sustaining city on Mars as part of the Mars colonization efforts.

Disclosures about life on Mars in a few years

Meanwhile, the U.S space agency NASA is close to finding life on Mars. But the world is not yet ready for accepting the “revolutionary” implications.

Throwing a new light on Mars facts, chief scientist of NASA Dr. Jim Green hinted that new Mars rovers could find evidence of life within months of reaching Mars in March 2021.

The rover Mars 2020 will be run by NASA and the European Space Agency, ESA. The ExoMars Rover will dig 6.5 feet down into the Red planet’s core and take samples to know the presence of extra-terrestrial life.

They will be analyzed in a mobile laboratory.

“I don’t think we’re prepared for the results,” Jim told The Sunday Telegraph adding that, “We’re close to finding it and making some announcements.”