Elon Musk recently declared that “building a new world on Mars is now possible,” following a milestone in SpaceX’s Starship development that surpasses the capabilities of NASA’s historic Saturn V rocket. Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever constructed, is intended to make interplanetary travel affordable and sustainable by achieving a revolutionary leap in reusability and cost-efficiency. Musk described Starship’s success as essential to transitioning from a single-planet to a multi-planet civilization.
The Starship rocket, which stands at 400 feet tall (122 meters), comprises two reusable components: the massive Super Heavy booster and a 165-foot-tall upper stage, also named Starship or simply “Ship.” Powered by SpaceX’s advanced Raptor engines, 33 on Super Heavy and six on Ship, the Starship system generates more than double the thrust of the Saturn V and is projected to reach three times its power, at 10,000 metric tons of thrust, within a year.
Unlike the Saturn V, Starship burns an 80% liquid oxygen and 20% liquid methane mix, a low-cost propellant, which allows SpaceX to reduce the cost per ton of launching cargo into orbit by 10,000% compared to Saturn V. Musk emphasized that this cost reduction is critical to achieving a sustainable Mars settlement. He estimates that developing a self-sustaining city on Mars would require transporting roughly a million tons of equipment—a task that would be economically unfeasible without significant advances in rocket technology.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has long held a vision of humanity as a multi-planet species. “Starship is the difference between being a multi-planet or single-planet civilization,” he stated, underscoring his belief that Mars could one day support a city of one million people, thanks to ongoing advancements in reusable rocket technology.
