SpaceX’s ambitious Starship program may still be grappling with technical setbacks, but that hasn’t stopped the company from setting its sights on Mars. In a bold step forward, SpaceX has officially begun offering Starship services to the Red Planet and it’s already secured its first customer.
SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell revealed on X that the company is now “offering Starship services to the red planet”. She confirmed that SpaceX has entered into an agreement with the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
Teodoro Valente, president of ASI, expressed his enthusiasm for the collaboration, posting: “Italy is going to Mars! @ASI_Spazio and @SpaceX have signed a first-of-its-kind agreement to carry Italian experiments on the first Starship flights to Mars with customers. The payloads will gather scientific data during the missions. Italy continues to lead in space exploration!”
The mission will focus on delivering scientific payloads to Mars, marking a significant milestone in international cooperation for deep-space exploration.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is preparing for Starship Flight 10, expected to launch in August according to CEO Elon Musk’s earlier comments. At the end of July, the company successfully conducted a static fire test of the Starship Upper Stage at its South Texas site. This vehicle will serve as the second designated for Flight 10 after the first one exploded during a test on June 18 just before its own static fire attempt.
Starship’s journey has been anything but smooth. The fully stacked vehicle made its debut flight in April 2023, but the past three launches this year in January, March, and May all ended prematurely when the upper stage experienced what SpaceX calls a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (RUD) before its planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
