Elon Musk says SpaceX is developing Starship to protect 'the light of consciousness'

Featured Image Source: SpaceX

Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 to make life multi-planetary. “You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great and that's what being a space-faring civilization is all about. It's about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I can't think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars,” he says. Musk is hell-bent on colonizing Mars by the year 2050 -

“The future of humanity is going to bifurcate in two directions: Either it’s going to become multi-planetary, or it’s going to remain confined to one planet and eventually there’s going to be an extinction event.”

"It appears that consciousness is a very rare and precious thing and we should take whatever steps we can to preserve the light of consciousness. Only now, after 4.5 billion years has that window been open. That’s a long time to wait and it might not stay open for long," Musk said in 2019, "I’m pretty optimistic by nature, but there’s some chance that window will not be open for long, and I think we should become a multi-planet civilization while that window is open.”

Musk hired the best engineers to work for his aerospace company, they have developed some of the most advanced rockets in the world. SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets are capable of lifting payload into orbit, then minutes after liftoff, the rocket's first-stage booster returns from space to be reused again. In the aerospace industry, no other rockets land vertically with the power of its engines, SpaceX introduced the innovation. The company has made rocket recovery their signature feat. It is a path to truly revolutionize spaceflight, every launch and recovery is paving the way towards transforming rockets into vehicles that could one day be as reusable and reliable as airplanes. Re-usability, long-term, could make spaceflight more affordable and accessible for everyone.

SpaceX conducted 20 cargo missions to the International Space Station aboard its Dragon spacecraft, which has been retired after nearly a decade in operation. The craft is replaced with an upgraded version known as Crew Dragon, which launched NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time over the weekend, on May 30. SpaceX officially returned human spaceflight capabilities to the United States. NASA has not launched astronauts to space from American soil since 2011. “…Getting astronauts to orbit after almost a decade, I think this is something that should really get people [closed fist to the chest] right in the heart - of anyone who has any spirit of exploration,” Musk said during a press conference after the successful astronaut deployment,“…I am really quite overcome with emotion on this day, its kinda’ hard to talk frankly. It’s been 18 years working towards this goal.” Read more: SpaceX successfully launches NASA Astronauts to the Space Station, igniting a new era in American spaceflight!

Starship is the key to making life multiplanetary & protecting the light of consciousness

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2020

Musk does not want to settle in low Earth orbit though, he envisions a 'Moon Base Alpha' too. Though, Musk’s eyes are set on Mars. In his grand vision, the space station and the moon are only stepping stones towards becoming multi-planetary species. Musk and his teams at SpaceX are in the process of developing a massive Starship, that will one day be capable of carrying 100 passengers on a voyage to the Red Planet.

Source: SpaceX

“Starship is the key to making life multi-planetary & protecting the light of consciousness,” Musk wrote via Twitter yesterday. The prototypes of Starship are currently under construction and undergoing testing at his SpaceX facility located in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville, Texas. Engineers are designing a stainless-steel Starship that will be capable of being reused, Musk says it needs "to be relaunched an hour after landing, with zero nominal work. The only thing you expect to change on a regular basis is propellant.” SpaceX has not published a specific timeline for when its first missions to Mars will be, Musk has previously stated that the first Martian base could be up and running by 2028. “I hope I'm not dead by the time people go to Mars. [...] If we don’t improve our pace of progress, I’m definitely going to be dead before we go to Mars. If it’s taken us 18 years just to get ready to do the first people to orbit, we’ve got to improve our rate of innovation or, based on past trends, I am definitely going to be dead before Mars,” he told reporters earlier this year. SpaceX runs 24/7 operations to accomplish sending humans to the moon and Mars within our lifetime.