Elon Musk aims for a Mars mission by late next year using Starship, potentially including Tesla's Optimus robots. This ambitious plan targets building a self-sustaining Martian city within 20 years, though experts express skepticism about the timeline and technological readiness.

The latest statement comes hours after US President Donald Trump's pick to lead Nasa said that they can focus on both the Moon and Mars simultaneously while prioritising landing American astronauts on the Red Planet.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has set an ambitious target for the company's Starship spacecraft. He wants to launch it toward Mars by late 2026. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk wrote, "Starship will hopefully depart for Mars at the end of next year with Optimus explorer robots."