Elon Musk just announced a new timeline for sending missions to Mars

Elon Musk has laid out ambitious plans to send SpaceX missions to Mars within two years.

Earth and Mars align every 26 months and that makes 2026 the ideal time to make the 259 day journey to the Red Planet.

Musk posted about the news on Twitter/X over the weekend, writing: “The first Starships to Mars will launch in 2 years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens.”

He added: “These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars. If those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years.”

Musk went on to say: “Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years. Being multiplanetary will vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness, as we will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet.”

Getty/iStock

The comments show that Musk’s plans have progressed at a faster rate than he previously predicted. Back in April, he suggested that uncrewed missions to Mars would take place in the next five years.

That has changed as a result of SpaceX's craft Starship, a prototype of which completed a return to Earth back in June after previously failing three times.

Meanwhile, it was previously confirmed that Twitter/X had been banned in Brazil, with owner Musk sharing a meme containing one glaring mistake to call out the government’s decision.

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