Elon Musk, CEO of the commercial space flight company SpaceX revealed some details of his plans to build a billion dollar self-sustaining city on Mars. Musk and his company have been working on projects to help send humans to Mars in the next few decades.
He delivered his speech called "Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species" revealing how he plans to make use of resources from the red planet to start a colony.
SpaceX is currently working with NASA on some other projects leading to the agency's scheduled manned mission to the red planet called "Journey to Mars" set to launch in 2030.
Musk is confident that a Martian colony can potentially be erected on Mars. Aside from their interplanetary transport system that is being designed to send humans to the red planet, Musk is also working on the steps to take to build a self-sustaining city on the red planet. This means all the necessary ingredient to keep people alive will be integrated into a secure dome in order to help keep future Martian colonizers alive.
Self-sustaining city on Mars
Musk presented his Mars-colonization paper for everyone to see during a conference in Mexico. This was well received by the scientific community including Scott Hubbard, former NASA employee and now an editor in chief of a science magazine who says it's a great chance for the space community to share and understand SpaceX' vision.
The details on how SpaceX plans to build a self-sustaining city on Mars will also enable scientists and engineers to study the concept and make use their learning while planning for other deep space exploration programs.
Interplanetary Transport System
It wouldn't be a SpaceX project if it won't involve the use of reusable rockets. SpaceX is known to have mastered the art of landing rockets on solid ground or on drone ships.
Landing the boosters safely means they can reuse them for future rocket launches. By doing so, they managed to lower the costs of space flights.
Musk plans to use the same method for the mission to Mars with his Interplanetary Transport System (ITS). Parts of the rocket are still being developed but rumors say that the company will be ready to launch the world's most powerful rocket in the next few months. It is allegedly so powerful that it can take humans to Mars in a relatively short time.
It will be powered by the SpaceX Raptor engine: an engine that's about three times stronger that the former ones they were using. The booster will be launched using 42 raptor engines - making it the most powerful rocket in history. With his resources and cooperative NASA assistance, Musk is banking on the success of his plans in order to fulfill his dream of building a self-sustaining city on Mars.