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e may have a goal of sending people to the Moon in 2018, but the ultimate goal is to reach the Red Planet. Mars is the next frontier and SpaceX is looking to
eventually colonize the planet. Last year, SpaceX announced it will be sending its unmanned Dragon spacecraft to Mars - the company is targetting 2020 as the year for the first ever private mission to the Red Planet.
Before SpaceX can colonize Mars, it will need to have successful expeditions to less distance objects starting with the manned mission to the Moon. Every few months we hear a bout a new rocket test by SpaceX - some have been a success, while others have not.
Although plans have been kept largely secret, SpaceX's desire to head to the Red Planet have been quite clear. For most of its existence, SpaceX has focused on designing and developing the hardware that will lead them to Mars. The Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT) has been in development for quite some time, but as always, the ambitious Musk is set to go even further. On Twitter, Musk said, "Turns out MCT can go well beyond Mars, so will need a new name." The spacecraft is now known as the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) and can carry 100 tons of cargo and 100 people.
Gone are the days of governments battling to reach the stars - it's now a battle of private companies as there has been a stagnation on NASA's part. But are Elon Musk and SpaceX being too ambitious? The company has yet to have a single manned mission, but is already talking about going beyond the Red Planet. Perhaps ambition and desire to explore the Solar System is what we need, but ambition and desire alone will not get us there. ■
*More about SpaceX's Interplanetary Transport System (YouTube.com)
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