Elon Musk’s SpaceX says it will ‘make its own laws on Mars' “SN8’s flight test is an exciting next step in the development of a fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. As we venture into new territory, we continue to appreciate all of the support and encouragement we have received.” Earlier this year, Mr Musk announced that Starship would be SpaceX’s “top priority” going forward, as he seeks to achieve his goal of making humanity a multi-planetary species. Since then, SpaceX has completed a number of key milestones using earlier Starship prototypes, including a 150 metre “hop” that saw it launch and land successfully. At the current pace of development, SpaceX could send the first Starship craft to Mars as early as 2022, Mr Musk said recently. Speaking at the Axel Springer Award in Berlin last week, the billionaire entrepreneur said trips to Mars depend on its orbit lining up with that of Earth’s, which takes place roughly every two years. When asked whether trips would therefore take place in 2022, 2024 or 2026, Musk replied: “I’d say six years from now, highly confident [that humans will travel to Mars]. If we get lucky, maybe four years, and then we’re going to try and send an uncrewed vehicle there in two years.” He added: “I’m mostly concerned with developing the technology that can enable a lot of people to go to Mars and make lift multi-planetary, have a base on the moon, a city on Mars, and I think it’s important that we strive to have a self-sustaining city on Mars as soon as possible.” No specific time has been set for the high-altitude Starship flight, though SpaceX has ordered road closures surrounding its facility in Clark County, Texas, for Tuesday and Wednesday between 8am and 5pm local time (2pm to 11pm GMT). A backup test window has been scheduled for the same time on Wednesday. The event will be live streamed on SpaceX’s official YouTube channel, which will be available at the top of this page. More about