The Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), which SpaceX is developing to colonize Mars, is on a path to begin flight tests in the first half of 2019, according to company founder Elon Musk.
Initial tests will probably be short up-and-down flights, Musk said March 11 at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas.
Musk acknowledged that the test schedule could change.
“I’m feeling pretty optimistic about the timeline, although … people have told me that my timelines historically have been optimistic,” Musk said. “So I’m trying to recalibrate to some degree here.”
Musk said SpaceX has begun building the first BFR spaceship, which will include the upper stage and payload bay and loosely resemble NASA’s former space shuttle.
BFR will be SpaceX’s largest vehicle, with about twice the liftoff thrust of NASA’s Saturn V moon rocket. It will be fully reusable and capable of carrying 150 metric tons to orbit.
Musk’s comments came less than five weeks after SpaceX conducted the first flight test of its Falcon Heavy, which is designed to carry large payloads into orbit.
Musk announced in September in Australia that SpaceX had begun developing BFR to start colonizing Mars in the 2020s. BFR also could put satellites into orbit, transport crew and cargo to the International Space Station, collect space debris, set up a lunar base and provide high-speed travel on Earth.
At the Texas conference, Musk said that initial activities on Mars will include creating a base to produce propellant, generate power and grow food. An “explosion of entrepreneurial activity” will follow.
“Mars will need everything from iron foundries to pizza joints to nightclubs,” Musk said. “I think Mars should really have great bars – a Mars bar.”