SpaceX Trip To Mars
Commercial flights to space are looking likely to form part of practical reality for consumers within the next 5 years. Well, depending on how much money you have at least. Incidentally, at the risk of avoiding a Back To The Future II or Blade Runner prediction coming back to haunt me, please remember I did say ‘likely’.
At the moment, however, rather than looking to even the Moon, the first commercial flights (which are currently scheduled to start in 2021) are literally only going to be trips to space. This may expand one day to an orbit of the moon, but any way you look at it, Mars is near the bottom of a very long ‘to do’ list.
In a report via CNET, however, SpaceX chief Elon Musk has at least given an indication as to what he believes a ticket would cost. You’d better start saving, however, as he predicts a single ticket will cost something in the region of $500,000.
Very dependent on volume, but I’m confident moving to Mars (return ticket is free) will one day cost less than $500k & maybe even below $100k. Low enough that most people in advanced economies could sell their home on Earth & move to Mars if they want.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 11, 2019
“Even Below $100k”
In the Twitter post (which you can read above) Elon Musk suggests that initial prices will likely be around $500,000. The good news, however, is that this may eventually drop below $100,000 meaning that most people could sell up and move to Mars if they wanted. Albeit, any price adjustment will be entirely based on volume/demand.
What Do We Think?
There are more than a few private companies currently looking towards making space travel a practical and achievable thing. Particularly in regards to commercial travellers who can, essentially, help fund both the travel and the technology behind it. Yes, I (or many of you reading this) may never leave planet Earth, but with people like Elon Musk… Would you like to guarantee that it won’t be possible?
What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!
