Elon Musk announces Starship's Mars mission for 2026

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Saturday announced that the Starship rocket would depart for Mars at the end of 2026. The spacecraft will also carry Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus onboard.

SpaceX, which was founded on March 14, 2002, just marked its 23rd anniversary.

The past eight Starship test launches have all failed, with the most recent explosion of a Starship craft being on March 7.

The spacecraft exploded minutes after launching into space, leading to space debris raining down.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) had briefly issued ground stops at the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando airports because and opened an investigation into the failure of the launch.

Starship's test flight, which is a 123-metre rocket system aimed to make a full orbit around Earth and re-enter over the Indian Ocean for a splashdown - which would simulate the surface landing sequence of the final product, which is meant to make a trip to Mars.

After the failed launches, SpaceX will need to gain permission from the FAA to conduct another test for Starship.

Starship will need to pass several tests to ensure that the vehicle is reliable for crew and can complete in-orbit refuelling, which is critical for such a long period of travel in deep space.

NASA is also awaiting a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, to send astronauts to the Moon this decade.