TLDR
- Maye Musk confirmed her son Elon genuinely wants to live on Mars in the coming decades
- Elon has stated he has a 70% personal chance of making it to Mars
- Mars tickets are priced at around a few hundred thousand dollars
- Musk dismisses Mars as an “escape hatch for rich people,” citing high death risk
- SpaceX’s Starship rocket is the vehicle planned to carry humans to the red planet
Elon Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, says her son genuinely plans to live on Mars. Speaking on the Power Players podcast with Brian Sozzi, she said: “I think he really would like to live in the city of Mars.”
Maye Musk was promoting her new memoir, “Timeless: The Art of Reinvention and Resilience at Any Age,” which covers her own life story, including raising Elon, Kimball, and Tosca as a single mother after leaving an abusive marriage.
This is incredible:
Elon Musk will receive 200 million super-voting shares in SpaceX ONLY IF the company establishes a permanent Mars colony with at least 1 million people.
In other words, Elon Musk will only receive this pay package if 1 million people live on Mars.
In other… pic.twitter.com/S05S1lhSnd
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) April 29, 2026
Elon Musk has been open about his Mars ambitions for years. In a 2018 interview with Axios on HBO, he said there was a 70% chance he would personally make the trip to Mars.
He was clear that the journey would not be easy or safe.
“Your probability of dying on Mars is much higher than on Earth,” Musk said during the interview. “It’s gonna be hard. There’s a good chance of death, going in a little can through deep space.”
Mars Is Not a Luxury Trip
Musk pushed back on the idea that Mars colonization would serve as an escape route for wealthy people. Critics had labeled it an “escape hatch for rich people,” but Musk disagreed.
He said that anyone who lands on Mars will face intense physical labor building the base and living in a harsh environment. “Once you land successfully, you’ll be working nonstop to build the base,” he said.
Tickets to Mars are expected to cost around a few hundred thousand dollars per person. That price point puts the trip out of reach for most people, though Musk has said the goal is to eventually make it more affordable.
SpaceX’s Starship rocket is the vehicle intended to carry humans to Mars. The rocket was previously referred to as the BFR, or Big Falcon Rocket.
Tesla and SpaceX Stock React
Tesla shares were up around 3% on the day the interview resurfaced in coverage. SpaceX remains a private company, so its shares are not publicly traded in the traditional sense.
Maye Musk has been vocal in defending her son on social media platform X. “If somebody’s insulting them when they’re doing good, you would come down on them like crazy,” she said.
She has built her own high-profile career, becoming a CoverGirl ambassador at 69 and appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit at 74.
Her comments about Elon’s Mars plans align with what he has said publicly for years. He first announced plans to reach Mars by 2022, later revising that timeline.
As of now, SpaceX continues to develop Starship as the primary vehicle for future Mars missions. No confirmed crewed launch date has been set.
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