Two US aerospace companies have announced a merger to launch the first commercial mission to Mars in 2024 and thus beat Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the race for the ‘red planet’.
Although neither company has experience in space travel, Impulse Space and Relativity Space intend to bet, among other innovations, on a reusable rocket that will be built using metal 3D printers.
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“This is an important milestone for Impulse and Relativity, as well as the entire aerospace industry,” said Impulse Space Founder and CEO Tom Mueller in a statement released this week.
Relativity Space co-founder and executive director Tim Ellis expressed satisfaction in laying the groundwork for a mission that could “make humanity’s dream of getting to Mars possible.”
“A multiplanetary future on Mars will only be possible if we inspire dozens or hundreds of companies to work towards this goal (…) This is a monumental challenge,” said Ellis.
“With the power of our united teams, experience and passion, I am confident that this historic mission will be just one of many to come,” said Mueller.
The leaders of the two Californian companies also confirmed that they intend to transport cargo on the first trip to Mars, scheduled for 2024.
Mueller was a founding member of SpaceX, where he led the propulsion engineering department.
SpaceX, owned by South African-born entrepreneur Elon Musk, has set 2026 as the year to reach Mars and begin establishing an inhabited base. The company is developing, in partnership with NASA, the prototypes of the rockets that will take the first humans to Mars.
In December, Musk said in an interview with Time that “the next big goal is to build an autonomous city on Mars and transport land animals and creatures — a bit like a Noah’s Ark from the future.”
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