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."

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.

Tesla's Optimus robots will be used to explore the surface of Mars, Elon Musk confirmed today. The humanoid robots, which were initially pitched as household assistants in October last year, will "hopefully" be sent to Mars on a SpaceX flight by the end of 2026.