SpaceX's Starship, spearheaded by Elon Musk, is slated to journey towards Mars by next year's end with Tesla's humanoid bot, Optimus, on board. Musk envisions human landings by 2029 or 2031 if initial trials succeed.

Musk—who has a history of setting unrealized goals for his companies—says he wants to send humans to Mars by 2029, though he says 2031 may be more likely.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said his Starship rocket will head to Mars by the end of next year, as the company investigates several recent explosions in flight tests. On Friday, the world's richest man said Starship is set to depart for Mars at the end of next year,