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Elon Musk did outline a SpaceX plan in 2017 that aimed to send four Starships to Mars in 2024, including two crew ships. But he described it as something SpaceX wanted to “try” to do—not a confirmed mission. No humans went to Mars in 2024, and SpaceX’s current public material gives no firm date for its first crewed Mars flight.
What Musk actually said in 2017
The headline refers to a presentation Musk gave at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia, on September 29, 2017. In SpaceX’s official transcript, he said the company wanted to “try to fly” four ships to Mars in 2024: two cargo ships and two crew ships.
That wording matters. It described an ambitious target, not a booked launch or guarantee that people would land on Mars by a particular date. The proposed early missions were intended to locate water, establish propellant production, and lay groundwork for later flights and a settlement.
What the proposed Mars plan involved
The 2017 concept depended on a reusable launch system and Starship spacecraft, with multiple launches placing propellant in orbit so a Mars-bound vehicle could be refueled before departure. At Mars, the ships would have to enter the atmosphere and land. SpaceX’s presentation put the entry speed at about 7.5 kilometers per second.
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A central part of the longer-term plan was making return propellant on Mars rather than carrying all of it from Earth. The concept was to use Martian water and carbon dioxide to produce methane and oxygen. That would require successful resource extraction and chemical processing on the planet, as well as reliable power and surface infrastructure.
These were elements of a proposed architecture—not evidence that the necessary systems had been demonstrated or that a crewed mission was ready to fly. A human expedition would also need life support, radiation protection, food, medical capability, communications, and a dependable way to land a large vehicle and get a crew home. Mars transfer opportunities occur about every 26 months, so missing a departure window can mean waiting for the next one.
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Why “will send humans” overstates the announcement
| Headline shorthand | What the evidence supports |
|---|---|
| “Musk announces SpaceX will send humans” | Musk presented an aspirational plan and said the company wanted to try. |
| “in 2024” | 2024 was the target year named in a 2017 presentation—not the year of the announcement. |
| “will land humans on Mars” | The proposed fleet included two crew ships, but the presentation did not establish a guaranteed crewed landing. |
| “a confirmed SpaceX mission” | The statement was a long-range company goal, not a publicly confirmed operational schedule. |
In short, the claim has a real source, but its certainty is misleading. A target or attempt is not the same as an approved mission with a fixed date, assigned crew, completed vehicle, and authorization to launch.
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The target passed without a crewed Mars flight. Starship remained in development and testing, and NASA’s work with SpaceX involving Starship centered on a lunar lander for the Artemis program—not a crewed Mars mission. NASA describes Artemis as a Moon-focused campaign that can build experience relevant to later human exploration of Mars; that does not make NASA a partner in a scheduled SpaceX Mars flight. See NASA’s account of the Starship Human Landing System work and its Artemis campaign FAQ.
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The accurate conclusion is that SpaceX missed the 2024 target. That does not prove Mars missions are impossible; it does show why an aspirational date should not be mistaken for a dependable forecast.
How the publicly stated timeline changed
- September 2017: Musk outlined a goal of trying to send four ships to Mars in 2024, two of them crewed.
- 2024: Musk described an uncrewed-first approach, with Starships potentially sent to Mars in a later transfer window and crewed flights following if the uncrewed attempts succeeded. That was a conditional projection, not confirmation of a mission (reported account).
- May 2025: SpaceX published a Mars-related Starship update, but a company update is not the same as a confirmed crewed launch schedule (SpaceX update).
- February 2026: Musk said SpaceX’s nearer-term focus had shifted toward building a self-growing city on the Moon, describing Mars as a longer-term objective. This indicated a change in priority, not necessarily an abandonment of Mars (Reuters reporting).
SpaceX’s current public Mars page says cargo flights to the Martian surface begin no earlier than 2028. It describes eventual human exploration but does not state a firm date for the first crewed landing. “No earlier than 2028” is a lower bound in a public plan, not a guaranteed launch date.
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What would need to happen before a crewed flight?
Before people could realistically travel to Mars, SpaceX would need to make the whole mission chain work—not just launch a spacecraft:
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- Demonstrate reliable Starship and Super Heavy launches, returns, and rapid reuse.
- Transfer large quantities of propellant in orbit and support a long interplanetary journey.
- Provide crew-capable life support, radiation protection, food, medical care, and communications for a months-long trip.
- Land a very large spacecraft safely through Mars’s thin atmosphere and operate it on the surface.
- Establish dependable power, habitats, supplies, and surface systems.
- Prove a return plan, potentially including production of methane and oxygen from Martian resources.
The 2017 date assumed these difficult milestones would come together on an exceptionally aggressive schedule. Until the relevant systems are demonstrated and a mission is formally scheduled, public timelines should be read as goals or projections.
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