Elon Musk confirms he'll be sending 'humanoid robots' to Mars on SpaceX flight to begin 'colonization'

Everyone seems to want a piece of the cake when it comes to space exploration. Elon Musk is certainly ahead of the curve when it comes to that, having launched the SpaceX initiative years ago. As new heights are explored, Musk recently expressed his plan to send Tesla's humanoid robots to space, as per Global News. Musk announced on X that the ‘Optimus’ humanoids could be on a SpaceX flight to Mars by 2026. These robots were initially publicized in October 2024 as household assistants that would do any assigned task. Now, they seemed to be destined for the red planet. Musk reportedly told SpaceX employees that he wanted to have 1 million people living on Mars in 20 years, reported New York Times.

Elon Musk has always emphasized his ambition to colonize Mars, and this might be a new step in his plan. “Starship will hopefully depart for Mars at the end of next year with Optimus explorer robots,” Musk wrote in his post. This long-term goal and Musk’s organization are an important part of NASA’s plan to visit Mars. This step is an indication that Musk and his influence on space exploration are widening. This announcement was made a few hours after a statement by billionaire tech CEO Jared Isaacman, who was a nominee of the President to lead NASA.

The statement highlighted the billionaire’s vision to focus on both the moon and Mars together and prioritize putting Americans on Mars. This grand plan was publicized by Isaacman at his nomination hearing. Partnering up with SpaceX to turn this vision into a reality would be helpful. The organization is developing the Starship Super Heavy to launch people and cargo to the moon and Mars. Musk also emphasized how the journey to Mars could be shortened from six and nine months to 90 days. This can be achieved by employing the most suitable technology.

The Optimus robots were unveiled at Tesla's "We, Robot" event in October 2024. "It'll do anything you want. It can be a teacher, babysit your kids. It can walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries, just be your friend, and serve drinks. Whatever you can think of, it will do," Musk commented at the unveiling, as per Newsweek. He had often spoken about sending unmanned crafts to Mars, but this new tweet was the first time he mentioned the robots being a part of that plan. This is the first step towards his goal to colonize Mars, which he hopes will happen in 20 years.

Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, was skeptical about the robot's capabilities. "If you start to look at the practical things, it's going to take quite a bit of time to actually pull it off. Could it happen this decade? It could, but with a whole lot of risk. But if you give me three decades, I could see how the risk could possibly drop to an acceptable level," he said. Experts note how the history of Starship flights is to be taken into account, with a balance of successes and failures. This goal can take numerous test launches before an attempt at flight.

Musk had previously hinted at the preparation of an unmanned flight to Mars in 2026 and added that astronauts would follow in the mission after. However, no official scheduling has been done for these flights. NASA and SpaceX launches are usually scheduled a year prior, so any update regarding this mission can be expected by the end of 2025. Apart from the technical aspects of the flight, experts have concerns regarding the political landscape surrounding the mission. Some believe that there is “ no way humans are going to be on Mars while Trump is in office.”