SpaceX is building floating 'ports' where people will climb into rockets and go to Mars, Elon Musk reveals

'SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars,' a job posting states

Anthony Cuthbertson
Wednesday 17 June 2020 11:16 BST
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The Starship space craft built by SpaceX could land on the moon by 2021, Elon Musk claims
The Starship space craft built by SpaceX could land on the moon by 2021, Elon Musk claims (SpaceX)

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Elon Musk has revealed that SpaceX is building "spaceports" for rockets travelling between Earth, the moon and Mars.

The SpaceX CEO said that the spacecraft facilities would also be used to launch rockets travelling around the Earth.

"SpaceX is building floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, moon and hypersonic travel around Earth," he tweeted on Tuesday.

He also shared a job posting for an "offshore operations engineer" in Brownsville, Texas, whose duties would include developing rocket launch systems for future missions.

"SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not," the post states.

"Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars."

Mr Musk has spoken frequently about his ambition to make humanity a multi-planetary species, claiming that it is integral for our long-term survival.

He has also expressed his desire to travel to Mars within his lifetime, however he recently said that current progress means it may not be possible within such a timeframe.

The 48-year-old tech billionaire announced last week that building the Starship spacecraft, which will one day ferry humans around the solar system, is now the company's "top priority".

In a company-wide email to SpaceX employees, he wrote: "Please consider the top SpaceX priority (apart from anything that could reduce Dragon return risk) to be the Starship."

The stainless steel spacecraft is one of three major SpaceX projects, along with Starlink internet satellites and the Crew Dragon space program, which successfully launched Nasa astronauts up to the International Space Station (ISS) last month.

There have already been several iterations of Starship prototypes, with one recent test ending in a dramatic explosion.

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