Elon Musk Mocked For 'Absurd' Prediction as Billionaire Claims Mars Will Have Self-Sustaining City in 20 Years and Reveals New Starship Flight Timeline
Elon Musk has big plans when it comes to flying out to Mars.
Aug. 8 2025, Published 2:00 p.m. ET
Elon Musk still has Mars on his mind, as he's now claiming there will be a self-sustaining city on Mars in 20 years, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The eccentric billionaire has been bold with his predictions recently, even warning that all life on earth will soon be destroyed, with humans having to pack their bags and live on Mars.
Musk And Mars
Musk is praying there's a city on Mars in the near future.
Even though Musk is looking at 2028 as a realistic date to launch an unmanned Starship mission to Mars, with a crewed flight likely to follow in 2030, the 54-year-old is still hopeful to kick things off as soon as next year.
After a person on his platform X, "What’s the timeline you have set, Elon? It sounds fascinating, and I am glad to be alive when this is happening," Musk was quick to give an honest answer.
He said: "Slight chance of Starship flight to Mars crewed by Optimus in Nov/Dec next year. A lot needs to go right for that. More likely, first flight without humans in ~3.5 years, next flight ~5.5 years with humans."
The Tesla boss said the Big Red planet will have a "self-sustaining city in 20 to 30 years."
The Tesla boss claimed he will be sending manned ships to the Big Red planet in the next five years.
However, while Musk's loyal followers were fully on board with this news, not everyone was praising the businessman, as one person simply called "bulls---" on his prediction.
They raged: "Considering Starship has yet to even reach a single Earth orbit, I'll be very surprised if it makes it to Mars before this year... it's absurd."
Another said: "Starship hasn't made it into orbit, let alone landed on Mars," and one user quipped, "I wish someone would publicly pants this man so he would stop saying things."
Considering no one has "pants" Musk yet, has has continued to say head-scratching things, including that the earth is about to blow up.
Earth's End?
Despite his confidence, many of Musk's critics aren't buying what he's selling when it comes to his Mars prediction.
"Eventually, all life on Earth will be destroyed by the Sun," Musk told Fox News host Jesse Watters in an interview. "The Sun is gradually expanding, and so we do at some point need to be a multi-planet civilization because Earth will be incinerated."
According to NASA, our Sun will eventually run out of energy. When that happens, it will expand into a red giant star, which could become so large that it engulfs Mercury, Venus, and possibly Earth. However, scientists believe that will happen... in about 5 billion years.
Musk, however, continued: "The fundamental fork in the road of destiny (is) that Mars is sufficiently self-sustaining and can grow by itself if the resupply ships from Earth stop coming for any reason.
"Whether that is because civilization died with a bang or a whimper."
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The 54-year-old wants Mars to be the next planet humans inhabit.
"If the resupply ships are necessary for Mars to survive, then we have not created life insurance," he added. However, sending humans to Mars may not be the best idea, according to biologist Scott Solomon, especially since it could "kill humanity."
Solomon previously claimed humans colonizing Mars would endure living conditions "so brutal" they could prompt a change in skin color and result in a loss of eyesight.
In his book Future Humans, he also predicted children of Mars settlers would undergo drastic evolutionary changes, mutate and develop "brittle bones," "weaker muscles," and a "freakishly green coloring."
Even with that possibility, Musk, who is believed to have 14 kids, is willing to risk it all to get feet on Mars.
