SpaceX published Elon Musk’s speech on multiplanetary life. The billionaire talked about the next version of the Starship spacecraft and shared his updated plans for conquering Mars.
New Starship
A significant part of Musk’s speech was devoted to the next generation of the Starship spacecraft. It will use the Raptor 3 engine. According to the billionaire, the company has conducted over 300 tests of the power unit, during which it has operated for over 16,000 seconds.
The Road to Making Life Multiplanetary: an update from @elonmusk on SpaceX's plan to reach Mars pic.twitter.com/d2cnsVKK80
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 29, 2025
Since each Raptor 3 will have its own cooling system, SpaceX engineers won’t need to use a heavy heat shield in the engine section of the Super Heavy booster. It will grow in size. The next version of Super Heavy will be 72.3 meters long and will be able to carry 3,650 tons of fuel. As for Starship, its height will increase to 52.1 meters.
SpaceX hopes to conduct the first test of the new version of the spacecraft before the end of this year. It will be able to launch the next generation of Starlink V3 satellites into orbit, which, according to Elon Musk, will be comparable in size to a Boeing 737 aircraft.
However, this is far from the limit. The company is already developing the next, even more powerful version of the system, which will be a remarkable 142 meters tall when assembled. It will consist of an 81-meter Super Heavy and a 61-meter Starship.
SpaceX’s Mars plans
Next year, SpaceX hopes to conduct the first test of refueling Starship in orbit. This key operation is essential for interplanetary missions. Musk shared a new concept for the Alpha lunar base, which will be built using Starship. However, Mars remains the company’s top priority.
At the end of 2026, a new ballistic window will open for flights to the Red Planet. And SpaceX intends to use it by launching several Starships to it. Their main objective will be to collect as much engineering data as possible, which will be needed for future missions. Tesla Optimus robots will be the payload.
According to Musk, if these missions are successful, SpaceX could attempt to send humans to Mars as early as 2028. They will be responsible for creating the initial infrastructure and extracting resources. SpaceX also plans to deploy a Starlink-like system in Martian orbit.
The main candidate for the location of the first Martian settlement is currently the Arcadia Planitia in the Martian northern hemisphere. It was chosen because of its terrain, the presence of water ice deposits, and its relative distance from the poles.
According to Musk’s presentation, with each new ballistic window, SpaceX intends to increase the number of spacecraft launched to Mars by approximately five times. The company’s main goal is to deliver at least one million tons of cargo to the Red Planet during each ballistic window. According to Elon Musk’s estimates, this is the minimum threshold that will allow the creation of a self-sufficient settlement capable of terraforming the Red Planet in the future. According to the billionaire, this will make our species multiplanetary and ensure its survival in the event of a global catastrophe on Earth.
You can also read our technical analysis of the recent Starship accident and its possible impact on SpaceX’s highly ambitious space plans.
