Mar 15, Kathmandu- SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Saturday that his giant Starship rocket, carrying Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus, will set off for Mars by the end of 2026.

The world's largest and most powerful rocket, 'Starship,' is key to Musk's long-term vision of colonizing Mars.

“Starship will be launching to Mars with Optimus at the end of next year. If those landings go well, human landings could begin as early as 2029, although it’s more likely that human landings will not begin until 2031,” Musk said on social media.

Musk, who is also Tesla's chief executive, unveiled the company's Optimus robot at an event last year. He said the "dancing robot," which can perform small tasks and even make friends, could one day sell for between $20,000 and $30,000.

The 403-foot-tall Starship, about 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, is designed to ultimately be fully reusable.

NASA is also looking to a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon this decade.

Before SpaceX can complete those missions, it must prove that the spacecraft is reliable, safe for the crew, and capable of complex in-orbit refueling. This is critical for deep space missions.

SpaceX suffered a setback this month when the latest test flight of its Starship prototype turned into a volcanic eruption. It successfully entered orbit in its orbital test, a near-repeat of a previous attempt.