SpaceX Plans Mars Colonization in 2022 – Plans to Use Reusable Spacecraft for Return Journeys

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX announced that they are preparing for Mars travel in 2022. According to Space.com this is three years earlier than what they have planned. In a speech at the International Astronautical Congress held in Guadalajara, Mexico, Musk said that his only purpose is to one day make life interplanetary.

Musk began his speech by stating a fact. He said that there were two paths that humanity faces today. One was to stay on earth and face inevitable extinction or to become a space-faring race and explore other worlds.

The SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System or ITS rocket will basically be a larger version of the first stage of the Falcon 9 booster. The ITS booster will be 254-foot tall and will be equipped with 42 Raptor engines compared to the Falcon 9 with only 9 Merlin engines.

Together with the spaceship that will carry the crew and other equipment, the ITS will become 400 feet tall and will be the largest spaceship ever manufactured.

The ITS Raptor engine is the same size as the Falcon 9 Merlins but is more powerful. It can take up to 300 tons of weight to LEO or low-Earth orbit which is actually two times what the NASA Saturn V can carry.

The Mars spaceship will carry around 100 to 200 people at a time and will also have theaters, function rooms and other living spaces to accommodate its passengers for 30-days of travel from Earth to Mars. Earlier it was reported that the Raptors will be able to take the ITS to Mars in 80 days depending on where the two planets are at the time of the departure. However, Musk said that the ITS could possibly shorten this to 30 days.

According to Space.com, Musk explained that his project will not just be for one ship. He said that once everything is set, there would be 1000 spaceships or more to Mars every 26 months.

According to The Guardian, SpaceX has not revealed details on how it will fund this mission to conquer the Red Planet but reports said that the initial cost would be around $10 billion per passenger. Musk said that there will be improved pricing for interplanetary travel over time due to the reusability of the spacecraft that will be used as well as in-orbit refueling and Mar's propellant production. He added that they also plan to build a solar-powered plant that will generate the propellant used by the ITS Raptor engines.

ITS spaceships can refuel on Mar for their journey back to Earth. Each spaceship will be able to travel a dozen times with each booster to be used and reused for future travels. Musk explained that the $10 billion ticket could drop to less than $200,000 due to improvements in space travel cost.

Aside from explaining how SpaceX plans to achieve Mars travel, Musk also lovingly mentioned the name of the first ship that will be taking the trip. Musk said that it would be named "Heart of  Gold" to commemorate the ship from 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams.