Musk: "Mars spaceship launch cost to drop below $10 million within 3 years"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Elon Musk, CEO of the American space exploration company SpaceX, announced a goal to reduce the launch cost of Mars exploration spacecraft to below $10 million (approximately 1.2 billion KRW) within three years.

On the 11th (local time), according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Business Insider, Musk held a briefing at the Boca Chica launch site in Texas regarding the launch plan for the Mars exploration spacecraft Starship and made this statement.

Musk emphasized, "I am confident that the launch cost of Starship will fall below $10 million within 2 to 3 years," adding, "In the future, launch costs could be reduced to the level of a few million dollars, which is an unbelievably low cost by space exploration standards."

SpaceX is preparing a test flight to put the reusable spacecraft Starship into Earth orbit within this year, having received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Starship is scheduled to be launched mounted on the Super Heavy booster, the largest and most powerful rocket developed by SpaceX.

Currently, NASA has selected Starship as the crewed spacecraft for lunar exploration. SpaceX plans to send Starship to Mars by 2050.

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