SpaceX could send people to Mars by 2024, Elon Musk says

LOS ANGELES, June 3 (UPI) -- SpaceX Chief Elon Musk is predicting his company will be able to launch humans to Mars by 2024.

Speaking at Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. on Wednesday, Musk said if there are no delays, there could be a human colony on Mars by 2025 and promised to give more details of his company's "architecture for Mars colonization" at a global space conference in September.

"What really matters is being able to transport large numbers of people and ultimately millions of tons of cargo to Mars," Musk said. "That's what's necessary in order to create a ... growing city on Mars."

SpaceX announced plans in April to send an unmanned Dragon Version 2 craft to the red planet possibly as soon as 2018, with the goal of landing large payloads there without parachutes or airbags or aerodynamic decelerators.

Musk acknowledged a schedule more ambitious than NASA's, that isn't intending to put a man on Mars until the at least the 2030s.

"When I cite a schedule, it is actually the schedule I think is true," said Musk. "It's not some fake schedule that I don't think is true. It may be delusional. That is entirely possible from time to time. But it's never some knowingly fake deadline ever."

He also implied he could one day move to Mars for good. "I think if you're going to choose a place to die, then Mars is probably not a bad choice," Musk said.