#Elon Musk pledges to put humans on Mars by 2026

SpaceX may have only just put humans into space for the first time, but that isn’t stopping CEO Elon Musk from making bold new promises.

The billionaire Tesla executive on Tuesday said that he is “highly confident” that SpaceX will be able to send humans to Mars by 2026, if not earlier.

Speaking at an Axel Springer event in Berlin, Musk didn’t hedge his ambitions to put a man on the Red Planet.

“We want to send an uncrewed vehicle there in two years,” Musk said “I think if you said [we’ll put a human on Mars] six years from now, I’d say I’m highly confident, and if we get lucky maybe four years.”

The world’s second-richest man, behind only Amazon CEO and fellow rocket company owner Jeff Bezos, said one of his main concerns is developing the technology necessary to make human life “multiplanetary,” saying he wanted to see a base on the moon and “a city on mars.”

“I think it’s important that we strive to have a self-sustaining city on Mars as soon as possible. I’m optimistic about the future on Earth, but I think it’s important to have life insurance for life as a whole.”

The closest Musk has gotten to sending a person to Mars so far is the cherry-red Tesla Roadster he launched into space back in 2018, which recently completed a flyby of the planet.