Trump’s victory could accelerate Musk’s Mars mission, sources say

Elon Musk's dream of transporting humans to Mars will become a bigger national priority under the administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Elon Musk’s dream of transporting humans to Mars will become a bigger national priority under the administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, sources said, signaling big changes for NASA’s moon program and a boost for Musk’s SpaceX.

NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to use SpaceX’s Starship rocket to put humans on the moon as a proving ground for later Mars missions, is expected to focus more on the Red Planet under Trump and target uncrewed missions there this decade, according to four people familiar with Trump’s burgeoning space policy agenda.

Targeting Mars with spacecraft built for astronauts is not only more ambitious than focusing on the moon, but is also fraught with risk and potentially more expensive.

Musk, who danced onstage at a Trump rally wearing an “Occupy Mars” T-shirt in October, spent $119 million on Trump’s White House bid and has successfully elevated space policy at an unusual time in a presidential transition.

In September, weeks after Musk endorsed Trump, the latter told reporters that the moon was a “launching pad” for his ultimate goal to reach Mars.

“At a minimum, we’re going to get a more realistic Mars plan, you’ll see Mars being set as an objective,” said Doug Loverro, a space industry consultant who once led NASA’s human exploration unit under Trump, who served as U.S. president from 2017 to 2021.

SpaceX, Musk and the Trump campaign did not immediately return requests for comment. A NASA spokeswoman said it “wouldn’t be appropriate to speculate on any changes with the new administration.”

Plans could still change, the sources added, as the Trump transition team takes shape in the coming weeks.