--- title: "Mars One Planned to Colonize the Red Planet. Now It’s Bankrupt." description: "Mars One, the startup that said it was going to fund a crewed mission to Mars by turning the journey into a reality television spectacle, is bankrupt." date: "2019-02-11" modified: "2019-02-11" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/mars-one-bankrupt" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "Space" tags: - "mars" - "mars colonization" - "mars one" - "space" --- # Mars One Planned to Colonize the Red Planet. Now It’s Bankrupt. ![Mars One, the startup that said it was going to fund a crewed mission to Mars by turning the journey into a reality television spectacle, is bankrupt.]() *\Image: Mars One\* ## Mars None Remember Mars One, the startup that said it was going to fund a crewed mission to Mars by turning the journey into a reality television spectacle? Now the company is bankrupt, according to financial documents published online. [*Engadget* confirmed]() the bankruptcy with Mars One Cofounder Bas Lansdorp, who toldthe publication that he was working "to find a solution" to the company's financial woes — but things don't sound hopeful for the would-be Mars colonist startup. ## Broke Planet The news was first unveiled on Reddit, where a user posted a link to Swiss [financial documents]() suggesting that the company was set to be liquidated. To be technical, Mars One comprised two arms — the for-profit Mars One Ventures and the non-profit Mars One Foundation — and it's the for-profit part that's out of cash, according to the documents. But Lansdorp told *Engadget* that the non-profit portion of the project wasn't able to act without further funding. ## Still Searching Back in 2012, Lansdortp and his associates [announced]() a ludicrously ambitious plan to send colonists to the Red Planet — and to fund the project with a reality TV show about the selection process and on-Earth test colony, with the help of "Big Brother" producer Paul Römer. Though the dream might be dead, it lives on at press time in the form of optimistic copy on the project's [website](). "Mars One aims to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars," it reads. "Several unmanned missions will be completed, establishing a habitable settlement before carefully selected and trained crews will depart to Mars. Funding and implementing this plan will not be easy, it will be hard." **READ MORE:** [Mars One Is Dead]() \[*Engadget*\] ***More on Mars:** [Swiss Finance Company Invests Big Shares in Mars One]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()