Russia and China may be launching for Mars two years behind private space company SpaceX. The Red Dragon spacecraft may be heading to Mars in 2018, according to SpaceX. The company helmed by Elon Musk noted that more information, photos, and future launch date are soon to come on Twitter. This adds insult to injury as Russia and China launches are planned for 2020. China has a 2020 lander, orbiter, and rover date set, and Russia’s European space collaboration had recently pushed back to 2020. Is Russian President Vladimir Putin feeling the space race blues?
SpaceX Red Dragon 2018 Mission
The teaser of a 2018 Red Dragon launch by SpaceX puts the private space company firmly ahead of China and Russia. NASA, however, may be feeling satisfied. Nearly half of the SpaceX budget comes from launch contracts by NASA, an estimated $400 million worth of funding, according to reports. The Red Dragon Red Planet push is a lander mission, which happens to coincide with NASA’s 2018 InSight launch, another Mars lander mission. NASA has plans to send a crew aboard a Dragon space flight to the ISS in 2017.
Putin Pissed?
President Putin may not be too happy about the Red Dragon mission. The ExoMars rover mission is a European Space Agency (ESA) project that was recently postponed, possibly pissing Putin off. The ExoMars mission has been delayed countless times, from 2016 to 2018, and now set for 2020. However, the track record of the project puts 2020 in question for Putin and the ESA. The growing economic issue continues for Putin as well, since the ExoMars project is estimated to have a final price tag of almost $1.5 billion. Will Russia be able to continue their Mars colony dreams?
Russia, China, and NASA Not Alone in Mars Race
Most of the Mars space race revolves around Russia, China, NASA, and SpaceX. However, there are other countries with a planned mission to Mars. The United Arab Emirates has a 2020 launch planned for Mars Hope, an orbiter mission. India is looking at a 2018 to 2020 Mangalyaan launch, which will be an orbiter mission with a rover and lander option. And colonizing Mars is also still very much alive for all space race parties as well. Maybe Vegas should begin to offer betting odds on who will get to Mars first?
