Elon Musk's Intergalactic Plan to Establish Functioning Human City on Mars

Elon Musk has unveiled an ambitious vision to establish a human city on Mars within the next 20 years, starting with uncrewed Starship missions in 2026.

If successful, a crewed Starship mission will follow just two years later.

Musk made this announcement on 8 September via X (formerly Twitter), coinciding with Boeing's successful return of its Starliner spacecraft to Earth, highlighting the competitive momentum in space exploration.

Is Low Birthrates the Reason forMusk's Rushed Space Mission?

SpaceX plans to launch Starship spacecraft toward Mars in two years, timed with the next Earth-Mars transfer window in late 2026.

The initial uncrewed flights will test Starship’s landing capabilities and ensure the safety of future crewed missions, which are projected to start two to four years later, depending on the success of early tests.

This ambitious timeline reflects Musk's urgent concerns about declining birthrates, which he views as a major threat to humanity.

Musk's goal is to establish a functional human city on Mars within 20 years, though he acknowledges that current economic and technological challenges, including the high cost of payload delivery—estimated at around $1 billion per ton—pose significant hurdles.

Musk's 62% Monopoly Over All Operational Satellites

Musk now oversees nearly two-thirds of all active satellites in Earth's orbit, following the launch of the 7,000th Starlink satellite last week.

SpaceX's Starlink constellation, which began in 2019, has expanded at an impressive rate of approximately three satellites per day.

According to the latest data from CelesTrak, a non-profit satellite tracker, SpaceX currently operates 6,370 active Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit, with several hundred more either inactive or deorbited.

This rapid growth—more than six-fold in just three years—accounts for just over 62% of all operational satellites.

Using Blockchain Between Satellites: Efficient or Risky Bet?

Achieving such a dramatic increase in efficiency within a short timeframe may necessitate a fundamental overhaul of space-based logistics and communications.

Research from NASA suggests that blockchain technology could be pivotal in managing and verifying satellite communications, offering a forward-thinking solution for space logistics.

Given its capabilities and position, SpaceX, led by Musk, is uniquely poised to leverage blockchain technology to enhance the coordination and operation of its extensive satellite and spacecraft networks.

By leveraging blockchain's decentralised nature, this method can create a secure, transparent, and tamper-proof network for satellite communications.

Each satellite could act as a node within a blockchain, enabling autonomous execution of smart contracts for tasks such as data relay, positioning, and resource allocation.

This system would enhance efficiency by eliminating the need for centralised control, reducing latency, and improving the resilience of satellite networks against cyber-attacks or malfunctions.

Additionally, the immutable record-keeping inherent in blockchain would ensure that all transactions and communications are verifiable, fostering trust among stakeholders and enabling seamless collaboration in space logistics.

However, this approach is not without risks.

The most significant concern is the computational and energy demands of blockchain technology, which could strain satellite resources, particularly in power-limited environments.

Moreover, the reliance on a decentralised network introduces the challenge of ensuring consensus among potentially thousands of satellites, which could lead to delays or disagreements in decision-making processes.

Additionally, the irreversible nature of blockchain transactions could pose issues if errors occur, as correcting mistakes in space could be far more complex than on Earth.

Finally, the adoption of blockchain in space logistics would require rigourous testing and international cooperation to establish standards and protocols, which could slow down implementation and pose geopolitical risks if not managed carefully.

Musk's 2026 Timeline for First Crewless Starship Might Change…Again

In April, Musk, the founder of SpaceX, projected that the first uncrewed Starship could land on Mars within five years, with crewed missions following in seven years.

However, recent updates suggest that this timeline has changed.

Despite Musk's latest confirmation, the schedule for the uncrewed spacecraft launch could still shift.

In June, SpaceX made significant progress with a Starship rocket, which successfully completed a high-stakes, hypersonic re-entry and landing demonstration in the Indian Ocean, marking a major milestone on its fourth test flight.