Elon Musk has a vision of his Starship rocket journeying to Mars just five years from now. According to the online weather.com, Musk expressed confidence in Starship’s capabilities after its successful third test flight. He believes it is ready for crewed missions to the Moon by 2026.

Starship, says weather.com, is the world’s most powerful rocket with a super heavy booster and a 50-metre upper stage spacecraft. Musk believes this technology is what is required for Mars and lunar missions with the goal of establishing a sustainable human presence on either planet.

“Civilisation only passes the single-planet great filter when Mars can survive even if earth supply ships stop coming,” he was quoted as saying

Musk’s plans envisage re-locating at least one million people to Mars and he says the red planet can be colonized by using reflectors from its moons, Phobos and Deimos, to warm the surface of the planet.

“Pretty much anything you can do on the ground should be done on the ground. But for warming up Mars, reflectors made on Phobos and Deimos could be a good way to go,” he said.

The infrastructure has to be such to ensure humanity’s long-term survival and expansion into space.

Trips to Mars should be routine, according to Musk, which also underscores the need for lunar bases and Martian cities. “One day a trip to Mars will be like a flight across the country. Humanity should have a moon base, cities on Mars and be out there among the stars.”

The cost could run into many billions of dollars and especially in the initial years, but these can be expected to come down assuming the space market opens up the way Musk envisages it. Even so, interplanetary travel won’t come cheap, technology levels have to expand significantly, also human skills and expertise before Musk’s vision can take flight to the stars.