Breaking News: Elon Musk makes wild prediction for self-sustaining city on Mars in just 20 years….See More

Elon Musk believes a million people could be living in a self-sustaining city on Mars in just 20 years as he lays out his wild plan for colonizing the Red Planet

Elon Musk has claimed ia million people could be living on Mars in just 20 years in a wild prediction about the future of human civilization.

The Space X founder, who has long been vocal about his desire to send people to the Red Planet, believes that despite no human having ever stepped foot on Mars, we could have a completely self-sustaining city built on the rocky planet by 2045. “The important thing is that we build a self-sustaining city on Mars as quickly as possible,” the tech billionaire said during an appearance on the podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz, jointly hosted by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson.

Musk explained that in order to expand the lifespan of civilization, a city on Mars would need to be able to continue to prosper even if something happened to Earth.

The key threshold is when that city can continue to grow, continue to prosper even when the supply ships from Earth stop coming,” he said. Musk continued: “So, you obviously need Mars to become self-sustaining and be able to grow by itself before the resupply ships from Earth stop coming,” he said. “That is the critical civilizational threshold beyond which the probable lifespan of civilization is much greater.”

When Cruz asked how close we are technologically to being able to do that, Musk responded: “I think it can be done in 20 years.” He clarified that he didn’t mean just a few humans would be on Mars by then.

A few people running around the surface in a hostile environment is not gonna make it (Mars) self-sustaining. So, you’re gonna need on the order of a million people. Maybe a million tons of cargo,” he said.

An incredulous Cruz responded: “You think we could have a million people on Mars in 20 years?” Musk confirmed: “Yes.”

Musk’s latest Mars prediction comes just days after he said he believes humans could step foot on the planet by 2029 as he vowed to send one of his own Starship rockets to the planet as early as next year.

“Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely,” Musk wrote on X.

The Tesla CEO said that the rocket will have a Tesla humanoid robot called Optimus on board, and will serve as a test for future human missions.