Elon Musk, one of my favorite people in existence, recently said that his SpaceX spaceships will get humans to Mars by 2026 with OR without NASA. Musk spoke to CNBC today and said the he was “hopeful that the first people could be taken to Mars in 10 to 12 years.”
He also added,
I think it’s certainly possible for that to occur. But the thing that matters long term is to have a self-sustaining city on Mars, to make life multi-planetary.
Currently, his SpaceX project already has the Flacon Heavy rocket in development. This rocket has the power to lift needed to complete the Mar mission including the first settlement. His company is also working on Dragon V2. It is being designed with Mars and Moon landings in mind.
In case you are wondering who is paying for this Mars dream trip, Musk says future stockholders are.
We need to get where things are steady and predictable. Maybe we’re close to developing the Mars vehicle, or ideally we’ve flown it a few times, then I think going public would make more sense.