SpaceX's Starship program, which boasts the world's tallest and most powerful rocket, will eventually put people and cargo on Mars.
The latest prototype, SN20, is waiting for the chance to go into orbit.
Several other prototypes have made flights, ground tests, and sometimes even testing mistakes in the effort to improve future flights.
Here's an overview of key milestones on Starship's road to the Red Planet.
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SpaceX has been plenty busy in other realms of space:
The company built Dragon cargo ships and Crew Dragon astronaut spaceships for the International Space Station and launched satellites for numerous customers aboard the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
As for Mars, Musk periodically releases new far-out Mars visions (and sometimes changes the names and metrics of the systems) for sending crews, cargo, and rockets.
Musk rebranded his Mars-colonizing spaceflight system as Starship in 2018.
Technically, two parts: Starship is the spaceship/upper stage and Super Heavy is the rocket booster needed to escape Earth's deep gravity.
At first, Musk planned to make Starship out of carbon fiber, but in January 2019, he announced that the craft would be built from stainless steel instead.
While stainless steel is heavier than carbon fiber — initially increasing the needed fuel for launch, along with the associated cost — Musk said stainless steel has better thermal properties for spaceflight, and so it would reduce the cost in the long run.
Musk later said this design change was the best decision he made for the project.
Starship has undergone a few more design changes since 2019.
SpaceX chose to put six Raptor engines on the Starship vehicle instead of seven.
They changed the number of Raptors on the Super Heavy, initially dropping the number from 35 to 31 and then increasing it again to include up to 37 Raptors.
Not all engines will be needed on each flight, but at least 24 Raptors are required to carry the huge craft into space.
Starhopper was a low-altitude prototype of the Starship system that looked more like a flying tank than an aerodynamic rocket.
SpaceX did two "static fire" tests of the system at its facility in Boca Chica, Texas, to evaluate the performance of the engine in 2019, and then followed that up with four short test flights that same year.
The Starship's first 1-foot (0.3 meter) tethered hop lasted 3 seconds.
On the first free flight, on July 25, 2019, the prototype soared to an expected altitude of 20 meters.
Its last flight before retiring on Aug. 27, 2019, was expected to go as high as 150 meters, in line with a limit imposed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Starship's program tested several ground prototypes before attempting flight.
The list of major prototypes in 2019 to 2020 included MK1 (destroyed during a tank pressure test), MK2 (abandoned for a newer design), MK3/SN1 (destroyed during a pressurization test), SN2 (pressure tested successfully),
SN3 (destroyed during a test of its pressure tank) and SN4 (destroyed during a static fire test, following several successful tests).
Starship's SN5 and SN6 prototypes conducted low-altitude test hops.
SN5 reached an altitude of about 150 meters or 500 feet on Aug. 4, 2020, and moved sideways in the sky to reach its landing area.
SN6 also made a 150 meters jaunt on Sept. 3, 2020.
SpaceX deliberately destroyed SN7 during a ground test to gather data for future flights.
SN8, which took to the air on Dec. 23, 2020, performed complex aerial maneuvers and flips during the program's first high-altitude launch.
It flew to 7.8 miles (12.5 kilometers) but failed to stick the landing, according to a video shot from the landing pad that showed it exploding in a fireball on the ground due to lower-than-expected pressure in the fuel tank header.
In a quick sequence in February and March 2021, the Starship program sent aloft three more prototypes on high-altitude flights: SN9, SN10, and SN11.
The vehicles flew for about 6 minutes each, but all three experienced technical problems during landing that resulted in fiery crashes or after-touchdown explosions.
SpaceX's Starship SN15 prototype stuck the landing on the 60th anniversary of the United States' first-ever crewed spaceflight when astronaut Alan Shepard blasted into space aboard NASA's Mercury capsule.
On May 5, 2021, SN15 soared 6.2 miles (10 km) into the sky and made several maneuvers in midair.
Six minutes after takeoff, the prototype made a safe touchdown on a concrete landing pad at Boca Chica.
SpaceX's newest Starship prototype briefly stood atop a Super Heavy rocket booster for the first time on Aug. 6, 2021, marking the tallest-ever rocket ever built.
The stacking test at Boca Chica included mating the two vehicles for an hour, with the joined Starship system standing 395 feet (120 m).
For comparison, NASA's massive Saturn V moon rocket, used for the Apollo missions, was just 363 feet (110 m) tall.
Individually, the Super Heavy stands 230 feet (70 m) tall, and Starship SN20 added another 165 feet (50 m) of height.
The two vehicles underwent numerous technical tests in August to prepare them for an orbital attempt.
SpaceX will soon be doing orbital flight with Starship.
If it all goes according to the plan then the spaceship will make a round-the-world trip to splash down off the coast of Hawaii after 90 minutes, while the first stage of the Super Heavy rocket should return to Earth 6 minutes after launch in the Gulf of Mexico.
Next up, we will be discussing “Why Heat Tiles are Vital for Starship”.
Thanks again for watching our video. Until next time!