--- title: "SpaceX COO: “We Will Fly Large Numbers of People on Starship in Five Years”" description: "During a conference, SpaceX COO and president Gwynne Shotwell said the company is hoping to get the first people to Mars inside a Starship \"before 2030.\"" date: "2021-04-15" modified: "2021-04-15" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-coo-fly-large-numbers-people-starship-five-years" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" tags: - "mars" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX COO: “We Will Fly Large Numbers of People on Starship in Five Years” ![During a conference, SpaceX COO and president Gwynne Shotwell said the company is hoping to get the first people to Mars inside a Starship "before 2030."]() *\Image: SpaceX / Futurism\* ## Starship Transporter During a conference hosted by MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, SpaceX COO and president Gwynne Shotwell reiterated the space company's desires to get its Mars-bound spacecraft Starship off the ground. "Starship is an amazing machine," she said, as [quoted by *SpaceNews*](). "I could not be more excited about a vehicle than I am about Starship," she added. "That is the vehicle that will take people in great numbers to the Moon, to Mars." Since [December 2020](), SpaceX has flown four full-scale prototypes of the massive, 165-foot spacecraft so far at its test facilities in South Texas. But all four ended up [exploding]() upon landing — or shortly before or afterward — after reaching an altitude of roughly ten kilometers. ## Large Numbers of People Despite the explosions, Shotwell remains optimistic. "I believe we will be flying large numbers of people on Starship in five years," she said, referring to Starship's other main purpose: flying passengers from one side of Earth to the other as part of a massive long-haul transportation network, a concept SpaceX first revealed [during a 2017 announcement](). The COO even promised that Starship will be ready to send the first-ever astronauts to Mars "before 2030," even earlier than previously expected. "It might end up taking that long, but I hope not." Shotwell argued that the point-to-point transportation flights could give SpaceX enough insights to make it to the Red Planet. "You’re flying enough where you hopefully have enough knowledge of the system and knowledge of risk that you can definitely start the journey to Mars within the next five years," she said. It's easy to throw out numbers when it comes to SpaceX's characteristically aggressive timelines, of course. Actually sticking to them is an entirely different challenge. And Shotwell is aware of that, pointing out at the event that the company's timelines are "aspirational. But you have to aim high." **READ MORE:** [SpaceX adds to latest funding round]() \[*SpaceNews*\] **More on SpaceX:** *[Watch This Breathtaking Time-Lapse Taken From Inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()