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Elon Musk wants his “big fucking rocket” to fly to Mars in 2024

Elon Musk revealed his financing plan Friday for a costly 2024 mission to Mars — a “big fucking rocket.”

Elon Musk revealed his financing plan Friday for a costly 2024 mission to Mars — a “big fucking rocket.”

Speaking at a conference in Australia, the entrepreneur said his reusable Interplanetary Transport System (code-named BFR) would replace all other craft in the SpaceX fleet.

That one vehicle would then carry out all the firm’s existing work, as well as future trips to Mars and the moon, and even fly paying passengers “anywhere on Earth in under an hour.”

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Musk later said the cost per seat for a global trip would be “about the same as full-fare economy in an aircraft.”

It could help with plans to establish a lunar base, Musk said. China and the European Space Agency recently agreed to build a “moon village,” while Russia and NASA announced this month they would collaborate on the first moon base.

Musk plans to use the money SpaceX currently generates from servicing the space station and launching satellites, the work of the Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule, to finance the development of the BFR. Work on the rocket, which will stand at 106m, should begin next year.

Musk said he hopes to send cargo shipments to Mars as soon as 2022, with manned missions starting just two years later. He added these dates were “aspirational.”