Elon Musk has issued a stark warning about Earth’s distant future, insisting that the only way to safeguard the survival of civilisation is to colonise Mars. “Eventually all life on Earth will be destroyed by the sun,” the SpaceX founder said in a recent interview, adding that the star “is gradually expanding” and will ultimately render Earth uninhabitable.
Musk emphasised that the goal is not merely to send a few astronauts to the red planet, but to build a “self-sustaining civilisation” there. “It’s not about going to Mars to visit once, but it is to make life multi-planetary… and to ensure the long-term survival of civilisation,” he said. He described Mars colonisation as “life insurance for life collectively.”
Although such apocalyptic outcomes may seem far off—“we have several hundred million years”—Musk believes we must act now while humanity still has the strength and resources. “If Earth has been around for four and a half billion years… then Earth only has about 10% more life in it before it gets so hot that life is impossible.”
He added, “The key point in the future where destiny of life as we know it will forever be affected is when Mars becomes self-sustaining… If the resupply ships from Earth stop coming for any reason… then we have not created life insurance.”
As reported by The New York Times, Musk, 53, has accelerated SpaceX’s efforts towards Martian colonisation. The company is now working on concrete plans for dome habitats, specialised spacesuits, and even the possibility of human reproduction on Mars. According to five people with knowledge of the project, some teams have begun drawing up architectural designs, while others are examining medical and biological challenges—including whether humans could have children on the planet.
The Times also reported that Musk has floated the idea of one million people living on Mars within two decades, dramatically shortening his original timeline of 40 to 100 years. In April, he told SpaceX employees, “There’s high urgency to making life multi-planetary… We’ve got to do it while civilization is so strong.”
While Musk later denied a Times claim that he volunteered his sperm to help seed the colony, he did not dispute the wider colonisation plans. According to internal documents reviewed by the paper, the Mars vision underlies most of Musk’s ventures, including the Boring Company, Tesla, and X (formerly Twitter), which he reportedly bought in part to test out citizen-led governance models that might one day be used on Mars.
The Starship rocket, developed by SpaceX, is designed to carry up to 100 passengers and could serve as the main transport vehicle for Mars journeys. NASA’s immediate plans involve using Starship to land astronauts on the moon, but Musk’s long-term ambition is to turn it into a ferry for Mars settlers.
Despite the scale of Musk’s ambitions, experts remain sceptical. Robert Zubrin, aerospace engineer and author of The Case for Mars, told The Times that colonising Mars would take decades and that Musk’s attention has been divided by his many business ventures.
Musk emphasised that the goal is not merely to send a few astronauts to the red planet, but to build a “self-sustaining civilisation” there. “It’s not about going to Mars to visit once, but it is to make life multi-planetary… and to ensure the long-term survival of civilisation,” he said. He described Mars colonisation as “life insurance for life collectively.”
Musk: And eventually, all life on Earth will be destroyed by the sun. It's gradually expanding, we do at some point have to be multi-planetary civilization because Earth will be incinerated… pic.twitter.com/gMrW39tiBf
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 6, 2025
Although such apocalyptic outcomes may seem far off—“we have several hundred million years”—Musk believes we must act now while humanity still has the strength and resources. “If Earth has been around for four and a half billion years… then Earth only has about 10% more life in it before it gets so hot that life is impossible.”
He added, “The key point in the future where destiny of life as we know it will forever be affected is when Mars becomes self-sustaining… If the resupply ships from Earth stop coming for any reason… then we have not created life insurance.”
As reported by The New York Times, Musk, 53, has accelerated SpaceX’s efforts towards Martian colonisation. The company is now working on concrete plans for dome habitats, specialised spacesuits, and even the possibility of human reproduction on Mars. According to five people with knowledge of the project, some teams have begun drawing up architectural designs, while others are examining medical and biological challenges—including whether humans could have children on the planet.
The Times also reported that Musk has floated the idea of one million people living on Mars within two decades, dramatically shortening his original timeline of 40 to 100 years. In April, he told SpaceX employees, “There’s high urgency to making life multi-planetary… We’ve got to do it while civilization is so strong.”
While Musk later denied a Times claim that he volunteered his sperm to help seed the colony, he did not dispute the wider colonisation plans. According to internal documents reviewed by the paper, the Mars vision underlies most of Musk’s ventures, including the Boring Company, Tesla, and X (formerly Twitter), which he reportedly bought in part to test out citizen-led governance models that might one day be used on Mars.
The Starship rocket, developed by SpaceX, is designed to carry up to 100 passengers and could serve as the main transport vehicle for Mars journeys. NASA’s immediate plans involve using Starship to land astronauts on the moon, but Musk’s long-term ambition is to turn it into a ferry for Mars settlers.
Despite the scale of Musk’s ambitions, experts remain sceptical. Robert Zubrin, aerospace engineer and author of The Case for Mars, told The Times that colonising Mars would take decades and that Musk’s attention has been divided by his many business ventures.
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