Elon Musk has said he wants to send a spacecraft crewed by humanoid robots on a voyage to Mars by the end of next year.
The tech billionaire outlined his latest schedule for Starship in a video presented at the project’s Starbase home in Texas and posted online on Thursday.
The SpaceX founder had been set to give a presentation, called The Road to Making Life Multiplanetary, on Tuesday night, following a ninth test flight of the spacecraft earlier that evening.
But the speech was cancelled after the vehicle spun out of control about 30 minutes into the launch, having not achieved some of its most important test goals.
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Musk warned there was no guarantee he would be able to meet the Starship timeframe he set out and much depended on overcoming a number of technical challenges, during flight-test development, especially a post-launch refuelling operation while orbiting Earth.
He previously said he aimed to send an unmanned vehicle to the red planet as early as 2018 and had targeted 2024 to launch a first crewed mission there.
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Humans would land on Mars as part of the second or third flights, he said on Thursday, but the first trip would be in the hands of one or more humanoid Optimus design robots built by Tesla, the electric vehicle and battery maker he leads.
The current target to land a human on Mars using Starship is 2028, but it has yet to make an orbit of Earth.
Musk said he wants to make it so that “anyone who wants to move to Mars and help build a new civilisation can do so. Anyone out there. How cool would that be?”.
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At the end of 2026, Mars and Earth align around the sun, reducing the distance between the two planets to its shortest, but still seven to nine months’ travelling time by spacecraft.
Musk said they had a 50-50 chance of meeting that deadline and if Starship isn’t ready by then, SpaceX would wait another two years before trying again.
NASA, which hopes to land astronauts on Mars sometime in the 2030s, is planning to use Starship to return humans to the surface of the moon as early as 2027 – more than 50 years after the last lunar landings of the Apollo era.
Starship’s previous test flights in January and March also failed, with the spacecraft exploding moments after lift-off, raining debris over parts of the Caribbean and forcing scores of commercial jets to change course as a precaution.
Musk shrugged off the latest mishap on Tuesday with a brief post on X, saying it produced a lot of “good data to review” and promising a faster launch “cadence” for the next several test flights.
A police officer is among at least two people who have been shot in an “active shooter incident” in New York City, officials say.
The incident happened at 345 Park Avenue, a skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan.
It houses both the headquarters of the investment firm Blackstone and the National Football League (NFL).
The building also has a Bank of America branch and has offices belonging to accounting firm KPMG.
Two senior officials told Sky’s US partner NBC News that at least one police officer had been shot along with at least one civilian.
Their conditions are unknown.
The New York Police Department has urged people to avoid the vicinity of East 52 Street between Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue.
It added in a post on X: “Expect emergency vehicles & delays in the surrounding area.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams wrote on X: “New Yorkers: there is an active shooter investigation taking place in Midtown right now. Please take proper safety precautions if you are in vicinity and do not go outside if you are near Park Avenue and East 51st Street.”
Officers close to the scene have been stopping cars and looking inside as they investigate the case, NBC New York reported.
Video from Lexington Avenue shows a police officer stop a yellow taxi SUV, having the windows be lowered and looking in the driver’s front passenger seat and back seats with flashlight.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
The United States and European Union have agreed a trade deal, says Donald Trump.
The announcement was made as the US president met European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at one of his golf resorts in Scotland.
Speaking after talks in Turnberry, Mr Trump said the EU deal was the “biggest deal ever made” and it will be “great for cars”.
The US will impose 15% tariffs on EU goods into America, after Mr Trump had threatened a 30% levy.
He said there will be an EU investment of $600bn in the US, the bloc will buy $750bn in US energy and will also purchase US military equipment.
Mr Trump had earlier said the main sticking point was “fairness”, citing barriers to US exports of cars and agriculture.
He went into the talks demanding fairer trade with the 27-member EU and threatening steep tariffs to achieve that, while insisting the US will not go below 15% import taxes.
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For months, Mr Trump has threatened most of the world with large tariffs in the hope of shrinking major US trade deficits with many key trading partners, including the EU.
Ms von der Leyen said the agreement would include 15% tariffs across the board, saying it would help rebalance trade between the two large trading partners.
In case there was no deal and the US had imposed 30% tariffs from 1 August, the EU has prepared counter-tariffs on €93bn (£81bn) of US goods.
Ahead of their meeting on Sunday, Ms von der Leyen described Mr Trump as a “tough negotiator and dealmaker”.
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At least 11 people have been stabbed at a Walmart supermarket in Michigan, with six in a critical condition.
Officials say a suspect is in custody – and at this stage, it is believed the attack was a “random act” that involved a folding-style knife near the checkout area.
Sheriff Michael Shea told reporters: “Eleven is 11 too many, but thank God it wasn’t more.”
Image: Pic: AP
The suspect, who is from Michigan, is not known to police – and was captured within three minutes thanks to “citizen involvement”.
The attack unfolded in Traverse City – and Tiffany DeFell, who was in the car park at the time, described scenes of chaos.
“It was really scary. Me and my sister were just freaking out,” she said. “This is something you see out of the movies.”
Beyond the six people in a critical condition, it is believed the remaining five were seriously hurt. All 11 are still being treated in hospital.
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Image: Pic: AP
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said: “Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence.”
A Walmart spokesperson added that the retailer is working closely with law enforcement.
“Violence like this is unacceptable. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and we’re thankful for the swift action of first responders,” a statement said.
Image: Pic: AP
At this stage, the ages of the victims is unclear – but it is not thought any of the victims were Walmart employees.
Traverse City is about 255 miles northwest of Detroit.