On December 9, a SpaceX prototype rocket was launched at a facility in South Texas. The rocket was unmanned so no one was aboard and the whole event was being live streamed. For most of the mission the rocket seemed to be doing really well, but then problems occurred. According to Elon Musk, the issue occurred within the fueling system. The problem with the fueling system eventually led the rocket to crash land and blow up.

At first this sounds like a disaster, but for Elon Musk and SpaceX the mission actually turned out to be a success. The rocket crash landing was not necessarily a surprise. According to Musk, the rocket only had about a ⅓ chance when it came to landing successfully. Also, on the SpaceX website they sent out a cautionary message before the launch. Furthermore, in a series of tweets sent out by Elon Musk, he explained that even though the dissent did not go perfectly,  all the necessary data had been collected.  He also sent out a tweet saying, “Mars here we come!!” Showing his excitement when it comes to the future and how the overall mission had gone.

In the future Elon Musk has big plans for the rocket. The rocket is specifically called the SN8-developmental prototype of a Starship. The Starship is the big goal of Elon Musk and SpaceX. The Starship in the future, if everything goes as planned, will be able to travel to Mars. Not only will the Starship go to Mars, but it’s been said that Elon Musk might be planning for the Starship to hold a cargo of 100 people. This way humans might be able to populate and colonize Mars. 

SpaceX also has other plans for the Starship outside of Mars. According to CNN, SpaceX rockets will be able to take satellites into space as well as resupplying the international space station.

For SpaceX there is a lot more testing that needs to be done before any of those huge goals are accomplished. Yet, according to SpaceX and Elon Musk, today was one step in the right direction.. According to CNBC, SpaceX has already built ten rocket prototypes and the SN9 is almost ready for launch. The SN9 is the rocket prototype similar to the SN8. As SpaceX keeps moving forward, the idea of having people reaching Mars and maybe even establishing a colony becomes closer to reality.