SpaceX to Explore the Solar System Using the Interplanetary Transport System

Businessman and billionaire Elon Musk wants to colonize Mars, but the SpaceX CEO won't stop there as he also expressed his intent to go "well beyond Mars" and to explore other planets within the Solar System using the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS).

Musk recently delivered his speech where he detailed his plans to colonize Mars. Part of SpaceX mission to Mars is to develop a powerful rocket that can transport 100 people to the red planet.

SpaceX recently tested the raptor engine that will help SpaceX bring people to Mars. Apparently, Musk's rocket is more powerful to be utilized just for Martian transport. And because of that, he immediately expressed his ambitions to go even deeper into space. Musk was quoted saying that his spacecraft might be capable of going to Jupiter's moon Europa, where an alleged huge ocean deposit is hiding underneath the surface that makes it a viable candidate to search for alien life.

In order to colonize Mars and to go deeper into space, Musk needed to develop a fleet of powerful spacecraft called the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS). The ITS will combine powerful rocket and the capsule that can take people to Mars, according to Space.com.

Although Mars is the first target of SpaceX' ITS, it may not be its last stop. "This system really gives you freedom to go anywhere you want in the greater solar system," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during a conference in Mexico. Musk discussed the importance of developing a system that will enable his spacecraft to refuel while in orbit. Once this is in place, his machines may be able to go further, even up to the Kuiper Belt located on the edge of the Solar System, Musk said.

Arguably, the ITS booster will be the most powerful rocket ever built. This will contend NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) that the agency claims is the most powerful rocket ever built. But SpaceX' ITS will be designed to be reusable to make space flight cheaper so more people can go to Mars and eventually beyond the red planet.

Musk believes that mankind should go beyond the comforts of the Earth and become "multiplanetary" species. The colonization of Mars will pave the way for new human settlement outside the Earth and it is Musk's dream to make it really affordable so everyone can have a chance to fly to Mars.

However, Musk's plans to go to Mars and beyond required billions in funding and also it will take time to build his ITS and other technologies required to make deep space travel possible. But Musk is confident that parts of his plans will be achieved and executed in this lifetime.