Elon Musk announces plan to send cargo ships to Mars by 2022 and revolutionise air travel by using rockets
A trip from Bangkok to Dubai would take 27 minutes, and from Tokyo to Delhi in 30 minutes, according to his calculations
Futurist and inventor Elon Musk unveiled ambitious plans on Friday to send cargo ships to Mars in five years and use rockets to carry people between Earth’s major cities in under half-an-hour.
The founder of SpaceX said a planned interplanetary transport system, code-named BFR (Big F***ing Rocket), would be downsized so it could carry out a range of tasks that would then pay for future Mars missions.
“The most important thing ... is that I think we have figured out how to pay for it,” Musk told a packed auditorium at a global gathering of space experts in Adelaide.
“Which is to have a smaller vehicle, it’s still pretty big, but one that can ... do everything that’s needed in the greater Earth orbit activity.”
Musk said his firm had starting building the system, with the construction of the first ship to start in six to nine months.
The most important thing ... is that I think we have figured out how to pay for it
“I feel fairly confident that we can complete the ship and launch in about five years,” he added.