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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confident Starship will launch humans to Mars by 2026

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CEO Elon Musk says that he is “highly confident” that SpaceX will be ready to attempt its first crewed Starship mission to Mars as soon as 2026 – almost exactly six years from now.

Made as part of an interview at the 2020 Axel Springer Awards show in Germany, Musk’s latest comments represent a marked move towards optimism and confidence about the progress SpaceX is making with its Starship program. Effectively designed to make SpaceX’s existing Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets redundant, Starship aims to be the first fully-reusable orbital launch vehicle in the world, capable of placing 100+ metric tons (~220,000 lb) of cargo into low Earth orbit (LEO) at a cost of just a few million dollars per launch.

If that extraordinarily low launch cost can be realized, SpaceX will be able to affordably refuel Starships in orbit to give them the performance necessary to send and land 100 metric tons or more to the Moon and Mars.

Be warned, cringe abounds…

With routine orbital refueling, Starship would be able to deliver a previously inconceivable volume of cargo to other moons and planets in the solar system. With enough Starships, Super Heavy boosters, and launch pads, the launch system could feasibly enable a large, sustainable human population on Mars and Earth’s moon, as well as unprecedentedly ambitious robotic missions almost anywhere short of deep interstellar space.

While an exceptionally challenging destination for even a small spacecraft, Starship is pictured here approaching Saturn, likely headed towards the moon Titan. (SpaceX)

Impressively, as CNBC reporter Michael Sheetz first noted, Musk already floated 2026 as a possible target for SpaceX’s first crewed Mars launch during his inaugural presentation on the subject back in September 2016. While in absolutely no way an intentional result, the CEO appears to still believe – and now more confidently than ever – that 2026 is a viable target despite several huge hurdles and drastic Starship redesigns over the last four years.

Back in 2016, the rocket Musk unveiled was known as the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), was to be built entirely out of advanced carbon fiber composites, and would have been the largest launch vehicle ever built by a large margin, standing 122m (~400 ft) tall with a diameter of 12m (~40 ft). That diameter quickly shrank to 9m (~30 ft) in 2017, while the rocket’s height also dropped before nearly rebounding – ironically – to 120m with the latest Starship iteration.

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The most radical change, however, came just two years ago when Musk revealed that he was canceling work on a carbon composite Starship in favor of a design built almost entirely out of steel.

Almost exactly two years ago, an empty tent, a concrete slab, and a giant pile of dirt were the full extent of SpaceX’s efforts to build steel Starships. (NASASpaceflight – bocachicagal)
Two years later, SpaceX has built a massive factory that is producing steel building-sized rockets almost faster than they can be tested, as well as preparing for the high-altitude launch debut of the first fully-assembled prototype. (NASASpaceflight – bocachicagal)

To be clear, SpaceX has a vast number of problems to solve and milestones to cross before Starship can be considered anywhere close to ready to launch humans at all, let alone launch and land humans on Mars and serve as a safe habitat for years. However, given that SpaceX has gone from paper to a steel rocket factory and (almost) multi-engine, high-altitude Starship flight tests in ~24 months, it’s not impossible to imagine the rocket being ready for crewed deep spaceflight another ~48 months from now.

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Tesla reveals it is using AI to make factories more sustainable: here’s how

Tesla is using AI in its Gigafactory Nevada factory to improve HVAC efficiency.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has revealed in its Extended Impact Report for 2024 that it is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable its factories to be more sustainable. One example it used was its achievement of managing “the majority of the HVAC infrastructure at Gigafactory Nevada is now AI-controlled” last year.

In a commitment to becoming more efficient and making its production as eco-friendly as possible, Tesla has been working for years to find solutions to reduce energy consumption in its factories.

For example, in 2023, Tesla implemented optimization controls in the plastics and paint shops located at Gigafactory Texas, which increased the efficiency of natural gas consumption. Tesla plans to phase out natural gas use across its factories eventually, but for now, it prioritizes work to reduce emissions from that energy source specifically.

It also uses Hygrometric Control Logic for Air Handling Units at Giafactory Berlin, resulting in 17,000 MWh in energy savings each year. At Gigafactory Nevada, Tesla saves 9.5 GWh of energy through the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone refineries when extracting critical raw material.

Perhaps the most interesting way Tesla is conserving energy is through the use of AI at Gigafactory Nevada, as it describes its use of AI to reduce energy demand:

“In 2023, AI Control for HVAC was expanded from Nevada and Texas to now include our Berlin-Brandenburg and Fremont factories. AI Control policy enables HVAC systems within each factory to work together to process sensor data, model factory dynamics, and apply control actions that safely minimize the energy required to support production. In 2024, this system achieved two milestones: the majority of HVAC infrastructure at Gigafactory Nevada is now AI-controlled, reducing fan and thermal energy demand; and the AI algorithm was extended to manage entire chiller plants, creating a closed-loop control system that optimizes both chilled water consumption and the energy required for its generation, all while maintaining factory conditions.”

Tesla utilizes AI Control “primarily on systems that heat or cool critical factory production spaces and equipment.” AI Control communicates with the preexisting standard control logic of each system, and any issues can be resolved by quickly reverting back to standard control. There were none in 2024.

Tesla says that it is utilizing AI to drive impact at its factories, and it has proven to be a valuable tool in reducing energy consumption at one of its facilities.

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Tesla analysts believe Musk and Trump feud will pass

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump’s feud shall pass, several bulls say.

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The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

Tesla analysts are breaking down the current feud between CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump, as the two continue to disagree on the “Big Beautiful Bill” and its impact on the country’s national debt.

Musk, who headed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump Administration, left his post in May. Soon thereafter, he and President Trump entered a very public and verbal disagreement, where things turned sour. They reconciled to an extent, and things seemed to be in the past.

However, the second disagreement between the two started on Monday, as Musk continued to push back on the “Big Beautiful Bill” that the Trump administration is attempting to sign into law. It would, by Musk’s estimation, increase spending and reverse the work DOGE did to trim the deficit.

President Trump has hinted that DOGE could be “the monster” that “eats Elon,” threatening to end the subsidies that SpaceX and Tesla receive. Musk has not been opposed to ending government subsidies for companies, including his own, as long as they are all abolished.

How Tesla could benefit from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that axes EV subsidies

Despite this contentious back-and-forth between the two, analysts are sharing their opinions now, and a few of the more bullish Tesla observers are convinced that this feud will pass, Trump and Musk will resolve their differences as they have before, and things will return to normal.

ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood said this morning that the feud between Musk and Trump is another example of “this too shall pass:”

Additionally, Wedbush’s Dan Ives, in a note to investors this morning, said that the situation “will settle:”

“We believe this situation will settle and at the end of the day Musk needs Trump and Trump needs Musk given the AI Arms Race going on between the US and China. The jabs between Musk and Trump will continue as the Budget rolls through Congress but Tesla investors want Musk to focus on driving Tesla and stop this political angle…which has turned into a life of its own in a roller coaster ride since the November elections.”

Tesla shares are down about 5 percent at 3:10 p.m. on the East Coast.

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Tesla scrambles after Musk sidekick exit, CEO takes over sales

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is reportedly overseeing sales in North America and Europe, Bloomberg reports.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla scrambled its executives around following the exit of CEO Elon Musk’s sidekick last week, Omead Afshar. Afshar was relieved of his duties as Head of Sales for both North America and Europe.

Bloomberg is reporting that Musk is now overseeing both regions for sales, according to sources familiar with the matter. Afshar left the company last week, likely due to slow sales in both markets, ending a seven-year term with the electric automaker.

Tesla’s Omead Afshar, known as Elon Musk’s right-hand man, leaves company: reports

Afshar was promoted to the role late last year as Musk was becoming more involved in the road to the White House with President Donald Trump.

Afshar, whose LinkedIn account stated he was working within the “Office of the CEO,” was known as Musk’s right-hand man for years.

Additionally, Tom Zhu, currently the Senior Vice President of Automotive at Tesla, will oversee sales in Asia, according to the report.

It is a scramble by Tesla to get the company’s proven executives over the pain points the automaker has found halfway through the year. Sales are looking to be close to the 1.8 million vehicles the company delivered in both of the past two years.

Tesla is pivoting to pay more attention to the struggling automotive sales that it has felt over the past six months. Although it is still performing well and is the best-selling EV maker by a long way, it is struggling to find growth despite redesigning its vehicles and launching new tech and improvements within them.

The company is also looking to focus more on its deployment of autonomous tech, especially as it recently launched its Robotaxi platform in Austin just over a week ago.

Tesla officially launches Robotaxi service with no driver

However, while this is the long-term catalyst for Tesla, sales still need some work, and it appears the company’s strategy is to put its biggest guns on its biggest problems.

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