SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is again promising the Moon, only this time he vows to start ferrying paying passengers around the Moon by 2020 on his new and untested "SpaceX Starship" spacecraft.
"I think we could potentially see people fly next year (2020) if we get to orbit in about six months," said Musk.
Musk's prediction has to be treated with incredulity since SpaceX's planning, which it's previously revealed, will have it launch commercial payloads or cargo (and not people) on Starship not earlier than 2021.
Starship is the fully reusable second stage and space vehicle being developed by SpaceX as a passenger and cargo spacecraft for flights to the Moon and Mars starting in the decade of the 2020s. It's being designed as a long-duration cargo- and passenger-carrying spacecraft.
A one-way trip to Mars can last as long as nine months. A trip to the Moon takes three days. Starship will be able to carry 100 people at a time to either the Moon or Mars.
Starhopper, a small prototype of Starship, recently flew a short low-altitude flight at Texas, which is where SpaceX's spaceport is located. On Sept. 27, SpaceX announced it had finished assembling the first iteration of Starship.
Starship will be launched into Earth orbit by the massive first-stage rocket named "Super Heavy." Construction of a second Starship Starhopper is already underway in Florida, according to Musk. SpaceX will then begin assembling another Starship in Texas.
Musk said SpaceX's next test flight may be to space after an upcoming test flight to 65,000 feet.
"Our next flight after that might just be a flight all the way to orbit with the booster and a ship," revealed Musk. "We're building Starships as fast as we can ... it's going to be really nutty to see a bunch of these things."
Musk "thinks it would very exciting to have a base on the Moon."
"We can go to other places in the solar system, like Saturn, but the critical thing that we need to focus on I think is the fastest path to a self-sustaining city on Mars," according to Musk.
Musk said he finds it important to note that humans are the only known fully conscious species.
"It appears that consciousness is a very rare and precious thing and we should take whatever steps we can to preserve the light of consciousness," noted Musk.
"The window has been opened" to become a multi-planetary civilization."
