Following the buzz brought by Elon Musk's announcement of a gigantic spacecraft that can transport 100 people to Mars, thousands of space enthusiasts should now be shrieking to experience this massive event that is set to be a global phenomenon. Unfortunately, going to space does not come without a price tag.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who aims to put up a human colony on Mars, said in his announcement that it takes $10 billion for an individual to secure a ticket from the galactic Interplanetary Transport System (ITS). Musk, on Tuesday, Sept. 27 realized that this whopping ticket price cannot "create a self-sustaining civilization" in the planet, thus reduced it to $200,000 - still an enormous amount.
Elon Musk Explains Three Ways To Cut Down The Price
As Musk presented during the International Astronautical Congress, the $10 billion transport fee to the space for an individual can only be reduced by 5,000,000 percent in three ways.
1. Space rocket for Mars deployment should be built with reusable materials. At the moment, the transport system made by SpaceX has reusable parts in it already. Meanwhile, the company has also developed reusable rockets, which was met with success in tests.
2. When the spacecraft gets outside the Earth, it should be refueled. It is the only way to build a small spacecraft that is cheaper to produce.
3. To maximize the spacecraft, a rocket propellant must be built on Mars so it can return to Earth. Musk mentioned before that a methane-based fuel must be built on Mars to power the spacecraft's comeback to Earth.
Space policy expert John Logsdon however warned that trimming down the space ticket price to $200,000 is not as easy as it seems. For one, the 2024 goal of Musk is already too near. This price is only feasible in the far future.
According to Musk, it will require at least 1 million people to sustain human civilization in Mars. As per what had been presented by Musk previously, SpaceX is planning to carry the first 100 people on Mars by 2024. After around 40 to 100 years, there should be a million people in the planet.
