Musk remains optimistic about SpaceX’s ability to reach the red planet, despite the April launch problem.

Going to Mars is one of Elon Musk’s plans

During a video conference at the International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan, SpaceX’s founder and CEO said he believes SpaceX could successfully land on Mars within three to four years.

The first test launch was carried out in April, and was not at all satisfactory, Musk thinks that the Starship does have “a good chance” of reaching orbit on its second test flight, he said. The launch vehicle’s upper stage failed to separate from the Lowe-stag Super Heavy while in flight, eventually causing a mid-air explosion. The launch was scheduled for 90 minutes but only lasted 4 minutes.

Following the April incident, the FAA suspended the Starchip and SpaceX must implement corrective measures to avoid these incidents.

Musk’s comments echo those made by SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell last year, who predicted we will see people on Mars within this decade.

Starchip is a ship composed of Starchip and the Heavy rocket, it is a reusable system designed to transport crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Before the April launch, SpaceX had attempted to fly to a Starship prototype in March 2021, which crashed in a fiery explosion. The FAA then gave SpaceX a list of 75 measures it would have to introduce before being granted a launch license.

In the same keynote speech, Musk said that he didn’t want to “set expectations too high” for the second Starship launch and also emphasized that despite the explosion, the first launch was a success because SpaceX was able to learn from it.