ELON MUSK SEES 'FIGHTING CHANCE' FOR STARSHIP MISSION TO MARS IN 2024

Space X founder Elon musk is "80%-90% confident" that the company's massive new Starship rocket will reach orbit next year and said there is a chance it will be ready for an uncrewed  cargo mission to mars in 2024. 

THE initial test flights will be difficult and a carry a high risk of failure , Musk said friday at a virtual session of the Mars society's 2020 confe
rence. "We'll be probably lose a few ships before we get the atmospheric return and landing right ," he said. 

Musk's space exploration Technological corp. is building prototypes of the huge rocket in Boca chica, Texas , To further his ambition of establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars. The company also has also won a NASA contract for a human landing system on the moon using the new vehicle. 

Musk predicted that starship could be ready tp test orbital refulling  in 2022, a major milestone for vehicles attempting to transport cargo to the moon and mars. but he conceded that his estimated dates for the rocket's progress "are just gusses, obviously." and may change.

"it is not like i have all these secret dates and i'm just keeping them from people," he said. To date, the new rocket has completed at least two sucessful 150 meter (492-foot)test hops. Starship is designed to carry heavy payloads around the solar system and hold as many as 100 people. 

Earth and Mars reach their closest proximityevery 26 months, the typical cycle when the national Aeronautics and space administration and other space agencies launch science to the Planet.