Musk's Mars mission: SpaceX's starship ready to blast off with Tesla Optimus by...

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said his Starship rocket will head to Mars by the end of next year, as the company investigates several recent explosions in flight tests. On Friday, the world's richest man said Starship is set to depart for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Tesla humanoid bot Optimus.

"Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely," Elon Musk said in a post on X.

Here are ten things you need to know about Musk's Mars mission:

-Human landings could begin as early as 2029 if initial missions go well, though "2031 was more likely", he added in a post on his social media platform X. Starship - the largest rocket ever created standing at 123m - is crucial to Musk's ambitions to colonise the planet Mars.

-The announcement was made by Elon Musk when he was reacting to another video celebrating 23 years of SpaceX. Musk has stressed on the need of colonising the red planet, calling it essential for the long-term survival of humanity.

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-Musk contended that creating a self-sufficient human colony on Mars would serve as a safeguard for civilization against existential threats on Earth, including nuclear conflict or climate catastrophes.

-Musk’s space agency SpaceX is actively developing the technology required for such an task, including advanced spacecraft and infrastructure to support human life on Mars.

-But Starship has suffered multiple failures. Last week, of the rockets exploded minutes after it was launched from Texas as part of a test. The second failure this year after a similar "rapid unscheduled disassembly" in January.

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-The tech billionaire has grand designs that the rocket system will one day take humans to the Moon, and then on to Mars, making humans "multi-planetary". Musk has long targeted a trip to Mars. In 2016, he said he was planning to send his Dragon spacecraft as early as 2018.

-The billionaire said in 2020 that he remained confidant that his company would land humans on Mars six years later. In 2024, he said he would launch the first Starships to Mars in 2026, with plans to send crewed flights in four years.

-Musk has said that the coming Mars mission would carry the Tesla humanoid robot "Optimus", which was shown to the public last year. Musk said the robot would one day be able to perform everyday tasks, and cost between $20,000 and $30,000.

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-Starship is crucial to SpaceX's future satellite launch business, a sector it currently dominates with its partially reusable Falcon 9, as well as Musk's aspirations to colonise Mars.

-However, in March, US President Donald Trump stated that sending humans to Mars was not his top priority. While he recognized the public's enthusiasm for interplanetary exploration, he indicated that it was not a primary focus for the U.S. government.