"Two years down the road it seems feasible.It would be enough for #SpaceX to have a fleet of three launchers, one per pad. The bottleneck may lie in the supply of the thousands of liters of #methane and oxygen needed to maintain a sustained hourly launch rate. Some have proposed building a jetty and a small gas #pipeline so that the fuel can arrive in large methane tankers." https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2024-11-04/elon-musks-plans-to-go-to-mars-within-two-years.html
The proof of concept shows that at the current achievable flow rates of #CO2 and water, it is possible to meet #NASA’s 16-month deadline for refueling #rockets on #Mars 🔴. It can be scaled further to meet tighter rocket refueling ⛽ deadlines. The use of Martian nighttime temperatures for heat 🌡️ exchange can potentially reduce the dependence on power-hungry cryogenic methods for gas liquefaction. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9118664
In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) to refuel rockets on Mars will become critical in the future. The current effort presents a thorough feasibility analysis of a scalable, Matlab-based, integrated ISRU framework from the standpoint of the second ...
For Starship to go to #Mars 🔴, you’ve got to get #Starship tankers ⛽ on orbit and perfect orbital refueling. #SpaceX will have to perfect the #robots 🤖 that will help build spacecraft #LandingPads and human #habitats on the Martian surface, prospect for water 💧 underground, and convert the water and carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere into vast reservoirs of super-cooled oxygen and methane for the Starships’ return voyage to Earth. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinholdenplatt/2025/03/11/spacexs-starship-plan-to-land-first-humans-on-mars-but-not-till-2031
#Reuters - #Starship is set to depart for #Mars at the end of next year, carrying humanoid bot #Optimus. https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/starship-carrying-teslas-bot-set-mars-by-end-2026-elon-musk-2025-03-15
Many core components of #humanoid robots 🤖 – including exteriors, actuators, joints and ball screws – are sourced heavily from suppliers in #China 🇨🇳 https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3307085/tesla-cant-make-optimus-robot-us20000-without-china-humanoid-experts-say
“After #Chinese supply chain manufacturers supply components to #Tesla, they refine them based on testing feedback and then offer the improved versions to domestic manufacturers” https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/25/tech/china-robots-market-competitiveness-intl-hnk/index.html
#Optimus humanoid robots 🤖 have electric motors in their arms that operate in a confined space and require the special magnets 🧲. #RareEarth magnets are up to 15 times as powerful as conventional iron magnets of the same size https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/business/elon-musk-tesla-robots.html
A one-way journey typically takes about six 6️⃣ to nine months. #Optimus is intended to perform basic tasks like equipment setup, maintenance, and data collection on #Mars 🔴 https://thedroidguy.com/spacexs-bold-plan-starship-and-teslas-optimus-robot-headed-to-mars-by-2026-1268548