Nasas Artemis programme, which aims to use SpaceXs Starship rocket to put humans on the moon as a proving ground for later Mars missions, is expected to focus more on the Red Planet under Trump and target uncrewed missions there this decade, according to four people familiar with Trumps burgeoning space policy agenda.
Targeting Mars with spacecraft built for astronauts is not only more ambitious than focusing on the moon, but is also fraught with risk and potentially more expensive.
Musk, who danced on stage at a Trump rally wearing an Occupy Mars T-shirt in October, spent US119-million on Trumps White House bid and has successfully elevated space policy at an unusual time in a presidential transition.
In September, weeks after Musk endorsed Trump, the latter told reporters that the moon was a launching pad for his ultimate goal to reach Mars.
At a minimum, were going to get a more realistic Mars plan, youll see Mars being set as an objective, said Doug Loverro, a space industry consultant who once led Nasas human exploration unit under Trump, who served as US president from 2017 to 2021.
