SpaceX will launch Tesla’s humanoid Optimus robot to Mars next year

The year 2025 is going to be pivotal for Tesla’s humanoid robot plans, if the words of CEO Elon Musk are to be believed. But next year could mark an astronomical milestone for the company’s Optimus robot, in quite the literal sense.

Taking to X, Musk mentioned in a post that SpaceX will put an Optimus robot on Mars atop its flagship Starship rocket by the end of 2026. Just over a week ago, the Starship broke apart following a launch test, the second such failure this year.

“Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely.”

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Cybertrucks and Optimus robots

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2024

This won’t be the first time Musk is making such a claim. Back in November last year, Musk mentioned that SpaceX was capable of sending “several uncrewed Starships” to the red planet within a couple of years and that the payload would include Optimus robots.

Tesla introduced a refined version of the Optimus robot at a glitzy event late in 2024. At the event, Musk told the crowd that Optimus was “the biggest product ever of any kind.” It was later reported that the robots were remotely operated by humans at the event.

Later, during the company’s Q4 2024 earnings calls, Musk shed more light on production plans, adding that the product has a revenue potential higher than $10 trillion. He also mentioned plans to manufacture thousands of humanoid robots in 2025.

“Will those several thousand Optimus robots be doing useful things by the end of the year? Yes, I’m confident they will do useful things,” Musk said. The Tesla and SpaceX chief has previously given an estimate worth $20,000-30,000 as the asking price of Optimus.

As far as plans of sending Optimus to Mars are concerned, they are more likely a technical showcase. Whether Starship is able to perform a successful uncrewed mission to Mars by the end of 2026 is the bigger picture.

NASA has its hopes pinned on the Starship for its Artemis missions, which are supposed to put man back on the Moon by 2027. The longer-term plans also include crewed missions to Mars, but they would hinge on the technical success of its Moon missions.