SpaceX hopes to launch Mars mission as early as 2018

Having finally nailed the at-sea landing of its reusable Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX is now turning its attention towards a mission to Mars, announcing Wednesday morning via Twitter that it hoped to send an unmanned Dragon spacecraft to the Red Planet within the next two years.

“Planning to send Dragon to Mars as soon as 2018,” the company posted on its official account. “Red Dragons will inform overall Mars architecture, details to come.” In a separate message on his private Twitter account, SpaceX founder Elon Musk wrote that the spacecraft to be used on that mission, the Dragon 2, was “designed to be able to land anywhere in the solar system.”

He also added that the so-called Red Dragon would use the Mars mission as its “first test flight,” and that since the ship had approximately the same internal size as an SUV, it would likely only be able to transport astronauts short distances, and not beyond the “Earth-moon region.”

Nonetheless, the official announcement of SpaceX’s plans to go to Mars is significant, according to Space.com. The website, citing a source familiar with the workings of the aerospace firm, said that the proposed mission would demonstrate the effectiveness of technology needed to transport supplies, habitats and other large payloads to Mars, for use by colonists or explorers.

Project will help NASA, bring us closer to sending astronauts to Mars

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Dragon 2 would be the first capsule launched to Mars using the Falcon Heavy rocket, an untested booster designed to carry more than 117,000 pounds into orbit. It would also use a propulsive landing system to touchdown on the Red Planet without requiring the use of parachutes or other aerodynamic decelerators.

Last November, Musk’s company released a video showing the manned version of the Dragon, the V2 capsule, being gently lowered onto the ground using this propulsive landing system, said Space.com. NASA scientists have agreed to provide technical support for the mission, the Times added, and the agency may be considering using the capsule to collect the rock and soil samples that will be gathered by its Mars 2020 rover and transport them back to Earth for study.

While Musk has previously been tight-lipped about his plans to send a spacecraft to Mars, the Wall Street Journal said that more details could be released in late September, when he plans to speak at an international conference in Mexico. The publication also called the 2018 launch date “significant” because launching then would enable the company to “take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime close approach of the orbits of Earth and Mars.”

In a Wednesday blog post, NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman said that the agency was “particularly excited” about the planned SpaceX mission, adding that they would “offer technical support” to Musk’s company in exchange for “Martian entry, descent, and landing data” from the uncrewed mission. If successful, it could be an important step forward for Musk, who announced earlier this year that he ultimately hopes to establish a “self-sustaining city” on Mars.

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Image credit: SpaceX

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