Talk:SpaceX Mars colonization program

"SpaceX Mars propellant plant" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect SpaceX Mars propellant plant has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 April 18 § SpaceX Mars propellant plant until a consensus is reached. Jay 💬 15:22, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

How really tall the SpaceX interplanetary transport system without the super heavy

SpaceX interplanetary transport system height 103.167.66.182 (talk) 13:59, 2 September 2024 (UTC)

WP:FORUM

IIRC, 48 meters without booster, Redacted II (talk) 18:23, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

History of proposed Mars landings.

I feel like the history section is missing some parts of the history of proposed Starship Mars landings. While its good to have the current timeline proposal, this is definitely not the first time Mr. Musk has promissed a Starship mars landing within a couple years. If someone has the time/motivation to compile a more comprihensive summary of past Starship/Mars timelines, this page would definitely benifit. 138.246.3.72 (talk) 20:30, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

Yes, would improve the article if this were done and added.

Sadly, much of this material has been written in this article in the past, and over-energetic editors come to the page and often seem to want to make it more of a newsmagazine on current plans, which Wikipedia IsNotANewspaper.

See the Talk page archives for some of this: ex. 2014 Aeon article interview w Musk is mentioned, as well as my own comment from Sep 2016 specifically requesting that we retain the History of the SpaceX plans. Will take some editing work to recover the lost info: but perhaps you would be up for that 138.246.3.72 ? Cheers. N2e (talk) 17:02, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Opinionated Criticism Section

The entire criticism section is written in passive voice (it has been argued, has been criticized etc.) and is full of weasel words and original research. To name a few examples:

"Mars colonization has been called a 'dangerous delusion' by Lord Martin Rees, a British cosmologist/astrophysicist and the Astronomer Royal of the United Kingdom. Musk has stated that staying on Mars is a life threatening endeavor that needs to be glorious to be worth it."

This is clearly original research implying that musk is delusional. See example: Wikipedia:No_original_research

Exploration of Mars has also been argued to be better left to the already successful robotic missions, with crewed missions simply being too expensive, dangerous and boring.

This is clearly a weasel word used to mask personal opinion. See example: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Clarity"

This is a very important section and needs to be rewritten to a higher quality. A good start would be to integrate who is arguing these points directly into the prose, instead of hiding the authors in the sources (the same guardian article is cited in 4 different 'it is argued' sentances describing different critiques).

The criticism of the SpaceX colonization program is very real and deserves a quality description with a neutral point of view. This means no weasel words, appeals to authority, or original research. This section is highly editorialized, which should be avoided. 2A0C:5BC0:40:1008:2E58:B9FF:FE38:5854 (talk) 13:27, 8 December 2024 (UTC)

Delayed first unscrewed flight to Mars to 2028

Not sure that I want to edit article. Just share this here("X")! ГеоргиУики (talk) 19:54, 7 August 2025 (UTC)

Delay isn't confirmed yet.

Just noted to be likely. Redacted II (talk) 21:38, 7 August 2025 (UTC)

History improvements

The current section is missing much of the history of the program, and weds a bit too closely to the Musk narrative to be neutral. Here was a start at a more historically accurate history.

The conceptual framework for SpaceX's Mars program evolved from a convergence of defense strategists and civilian space advocates during the 1980s. This network was centered around the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy, a private group chaired by Jerry Pournelle that facilitated collaboration between Cold War strategists and space advocates. Prominent members included Team B intelligence analyst Stefan Thomas Possony, High Frontier founder Lt. Gen. Daniel O. Graham, and former NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine. Along with the libertarian L-5 Society, this group promoted a "dual-use" philosophy, arguing that "anti-bureaucratic" technologies developed for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)—specifically the reusable vertical-landing rockets championed by council member Maxwell Hunter with the DX-X—were the most viable pathways to Mars. This philosophy was institutionalized in 1998 with the founding of the Mars Society, led by Robert Zubrin. A key figure in this lineage was Mars Society founding signatory Michael D. Griffin, the former Deputy for Technology at the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), who championed Zubrin's "Mars Direct" plan as a cost-effective alternative to NASA orthodoxy.

In 2001, Elon Musk joined the Board of Directors of the early Mars Society, donating $100,000 to the organization. Through this network, Musk sought to revive public interest in space with "Mars Oasis," a project to land a greenhouse on the Red Planet. To achieve this, Michael D. Griffin traveled with Musk to Russia in early 2002 to examine ICBMs for potential use. The failure of these negotiations was said to convince Musk to establish his own company to build reusable rockets. The vertical landing architecture for reusability was based on the SDIO's DC-X (Delta Clipper), a prototype rocket developed by the SDIO and Mars Society members. Early SpaceX recruitment heavily targeted the "insurgent" engineering talent from SDI and DC-X programs. Key hires included Chris Thompson (VP of Operations) and Tim Buzza (VP of Launch), who, alongside DC-X engineer John Garvey, transferred the "test-fly-fix" operational culture and vertical landing expertise from the missile defense sector directly into the private Mars colonization effort. Drawing from the survivalist philosophy of the society, SpaceX has stated that its goal is to colonize Mars to ensure the long-term survival of the human species.

~2025-34103-24 (talk) 21:14, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

Listing where the various employees came from doesn't seem all that relevant to the article. Redacted II (talk) 21:45, 21 November 2025 (UTC)