Elon Musk posts image and says 'this will be Mars one day'

The world is gearing up for the push to Mars, with many space-fairing nations making a revisit to the moon their preliminary goal and the ultimate goal of reaching Mars.

NASA and private companies such as Elon Musk's SpaceX are working hard at making the Artemis mission and the mission to the Red Planet a reality. SpaceX's development of its Starship launch vehicle is at the forefront of the mode of transportation a trip to Mars would require, and Musk, along with the team at SpaceX, is working towards the rocket's first orbital test flight. SpaceX recently conducted a static fire test of Starship equipped with a set of two Raptor engines, which Musk described through a meme as "sexy".

Now the SpaceX CEO has taken to his personal Twitter account again to share a visual prediction of what he believes Mars will look like one day. The image shows a Starship rocket attached to a large arm, with Musk writing that "This will be Mars one day", a reference to the ultimate goal of having spaceports on the surface of the Red Planet, launching multiple Starships to Earth. Each of these Starships is capable of launching 100 tons into orbit, which is enough to make substantial trips from Earth during the early colonization phase.

• Read more: Elon Musk says when he will launch the largest flying object ever made

Musk recently stated during the Full Send Podcast that one Starship launch vehicle would be capable of setting up a small Mars or lunar base, and that having multiple in operation would allow for a barebones base to easily be constructed with the use of drones in a relatively short amount of time.

Notably, Musk said that the road to Starship's first orbital test flight won't be completely smooth as there is always the possibility of Starship exploding, with Musk describing the task of making Starship a reliable vehicle as being "challenging" and "complicated". The SpaceX CEO noted during the recent podcast that Starship is more than double the thrust of Saturn V, while also being twice the weight.

• Read more: Elon Musk shares video of Starship conducting 'sexy' static fire test

Musk estimated that the first orbital launch test could occur anywhere between 1 and 12 months from now. If you are interested in staying updated on SpaceX's launches be sure to check out Elon Musk's Twitter account and SpaceX's own account.