The race to Mars involves competition between manufacturers and nations.[5]NASA has demurred in a potential rivalry withSpaceX or other manufacturers in any possible race to be first to Mars. It instead sees synergies in possible cooperation with such entities.[6] However, politicians may push NASA into competition with private entities such asBoeing andSpaceX in getting humans to Mars.[7] PresidentDonald Trump has planned for NASA to reach Mars in the 2030s.[2][8][9]
Boeing has stated that one of its rockets will lead to the first crewed expedition to Mars, before SpaceX or others will land a crewed mission. Boeing is the primary contractor on the U.S.Space Launch System (SLS) NASA rocket program that has the ultimate goal of a crewed Mars mission. SpaceX has declined to state that it is a race, or that it needs to race Boeing.[10][11][12][13]
In 2019, SpaceX started to develop their own hardware, theStarship with initial launches planned for the early 2020s, followed by a cargo mission to Mars planned for 2027 and a crewed Mars mission in 2029 with the goal of setting up a propellant depot and the beginnings of a Mars base.[22][23] As of 2024, Starship has achieved orbit in asuccessful flight test.[24]
Inspiration Mars planned a crewed flyby of Mars using third party hardware but has been inactive since 2015.
In the 2020s, both the US and China are engaged in an effort to establish a permanent presence on the Moon, with an emphasis on theLunar South Pole, as a proving ground and stepping stone to Mars. The US uses itsArtemis program and China uses itsChinese Lunar Exploration Program.[29][30]
Missions are ordered by launch date. Sign† indicates failure en route or before intended mission data returned.‡ indicates use of the planet as agravity assist en route to another destination.
Various conventions, treaties, agreements, memorandums, charters or declarations establishing and governing intergovernmental organisations or inter-agency bodies dealing with space affairs
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