SpaceX reveals how much it has invested in trying to get Starship to Mars

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SpaceX has been pouring millions of dollars into the development of Starship, the company's rocket that is slated to be the transportation method humans will use to touch down on the surface of Mars.

Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket and is shaping up to be the rocket that will finally realize the company's dream, sourced from Elon Musk, of making humans a multi-planetary species. With a few Starship launches under its belt SpaceX is full steam ahead to achieving its goal, but it appears its being blocked by US regulators more than necessary, at least according to SpaceX.

Despite its goals, we have now learned an approximate figure SpaceX has spent on Starship's development, with the company's Chief Operating Officer, Gwynne Shotwell, saying in front of the Texas Appropriations Committee for Texas Space Commission that SpaceX has invested $3 billion into developing Starship and its surrounding facilities. Shotwell also pointed out SpaceX is about to break through the four million mark for Starlink customers and that as the network grows, it plans to expand its facilities and put more Starlink satellites in orbit.

Shotwell describes Starbase, SpaceX's testing facility for rockets, as "a one-of-a-kind facility to manufacture, test, and launch the most advanced rockets on the planet there." Starship "is capable of launching over a hundred fifty metric tons to Earth orbit," Shotwell added, outlining that as part of SpaceX's Starbase development, it has "invested more than three billion dollars, uh, over the last few years, with just a billion in outlays in Texas uh this past year."