MISSION TO INCLUDE MARS FLY-BY AND DEEP-SPACE OPERATIONS

SpaceX has announced plans for what it describes as Starship’s first human interplanetary spaceflight mission, with Chun Wang named as mission commander for the proposed Mars fly-by mission.

According to the announcement, the planned two-year mission will travel beyond the Earth-Moon system, conduct a fly-by of Mars and then return to Earth.

Chun Wang previously served as Mission Commander of Fram2, described as the first human spaceflight mission to fly over Earth’s poles.

CIRCUMLUNAR MISSION PLANNED FIRST

Prior to the interplanetary mission, Wang is expected to participate in a separate commercial Starship mission around the Moon alongside Dennis and Akiko Tito.

The week-long circumlunar mission is intended to support the development and validation of Starship systems for long-duration deep-space operations. The planned trajectory is expected to bring the spacecraft within approximately 200 km of the Moon’s surface.

COMMERCIAL HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT EXPANSION

SpaceX stated that since May 2020 it has transported 78 crewmembers from 20 countries aboard Dragon spacecraft across 20 missions, including seven commercial and private astronaut flights.

The company said the upcoming Starship missions represent an expansion of commercial human spaceflight activity beyond low-Earth orbit towards lunar and interplanetary operations.

While timelines for the missions were not disclosed in the statement, the announcement reflects SpaceX’s continued development of Starship as a platform for future long-duration deep-space transport missions.