SpaceX is planning a human mission to Mars with a familiar face

SpaceX revealed plans for a private human mission to Mars, targeting a two-year flyby without landing, the first interplanetary spaceflight of its kind. The mission will use the Starship rocket and is scheduled to follow a separate lunar flyby, bringing a crew closer to the moon’s surface than NASA’s Artemis II did. Cryptocurrency billionaire Chun Wang, who previously led the Fram2 mission—a four-day polar orbit flight in 2025—will command both the lunar and Mars missions. The Mars mission was announced May 21 on SpaceX’s website, ahead of Starship’s latest test flight from Starbase in South Texas. Starship, a 407-foot spacecraft, will serve as the vehicle for both the lunar and Martian missions. Wang emphasized the mission’s significance, stating it would make Mars ‘a reality’ and inspire future exploration. Wang’s experience includes leading the Fram2 mission in April 2025, where he and a crew orbited Earth’s poles aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Launched from Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket, Fram2 marked the first time humans flew over both poles in orbit. The mission paid homage to the historic Norwegian ship Fram, which explored polar regions in the early 1900s. SpaceX’s Mars mission will not involve a lunar landing but will fly within 125 miles of the moon’s surface, closer than Artemis II’s 4,067-mile altitude. The announcement aligns with SpaceX’s broader goals, despite Elon Musk’s earlier shift toward focusing on a lunar city. Starship’s development remains critical, with its 12th flight test occurring shortly after the Mars mission plans were revealed.