 SpaceX CEO Elon Musk just announced how he hopes to finance his plans to colonize Mars — by making SpaceX's entire fleet of vehicles — the Falcon 9, the Falcon Heavy, and the Dragon spacecraft — obsolete. Musk wants to eventually start stockpiling these vehicles and then focus all of SpaceX's resources into developing the company's next monster vehicle, the Interplanetary Transport System, codenamed the BFR. Big fucking rocket. We're sort of searching for the right name. And he says that by launching satellites and servicing the space station, the company will have enough revenue to fund the BFR's development. I think we have figured out how to pay for it. This is very important. But the BFR is not going to be as big as originally planned. Its combo rocket and spaceship design has been scaled down, only using 31 main Raptor engines instead of the original 42. Most of the other major design elements, though, such as in-orbit fueling and propulsive landing, have remained the same. Musk also proposed a variety of new uses for the scaled-down rocket beyond just going to Mars, including launching satellites, taking cargo to the International Space Station, and even doing lunar missions to set up a moon base. SpaceX's current Falcon 9 fleet is used to do a few of those things already, but Musk says eventually the company will turn to the BFR to do all of its space missions. By making the Falcon Heavy and Dragon redundant, the teams and resources dedicated to those rockets can be applied to the BFR. Musk says the cost of launching cargo on the BFR will be fairly cheap, too, since the rocket and spaceship will be a fully reusable system, unlike the Falcon 9, which is only 70-80% reusable. However, SpaceX did not say how much it would likely cost to launch the BFR. The timeline for this is incredibly optimistic, too, if not unrealistic. Last year, Musk claimed the first crews would start flying to the Red Planet as early as 2024. And this year, he said the first two cargo BFR ships will launch to Mars in 2022. That's just five years to create an entirely new rocket, send it to another planet, and land it on the surface intact. If it does land successfully, it'll be the heaviest vehicle to ever make it to the Martian surface in one piece. And SpaceX has blown plenty of deadlines before. The company was supposed to start sending astronauts to the International Space Station as early as this year. Now, the absolute earliest is 2018 or 2019. The company also promised to launch its new heavy-lift rocket, the Falcon Heavy, in 2013. The rocket hasn't yet flown, though Musk said it should launch before the end of the year. But even if these deadlines are met, there are still a lot of unanswered questions, such as what kind of habitats people will live in on Mars, or how a Martian colony would sustain itself. While SpaceX considers itself a transportation company first, there's still a lot of problems left to solve before the company can actually start transporting people to the Red Planet.
 SpaceX CEO Elon Musk just announced how he hopes to finance his plans to colonize Mars
 — by making SpaceX's entire fleet of vehicles — the Falcon 9, the Falcon Heavy, and the
 Dragon spacecraft — obsolete.
 Musk wants to eventually start stockpiling these vehicles and then focus all of SpaceX's
 resources into developing the company's next monster vehicle, the Interplanetary Transport
 System, codenamed the BFR.
 Big fucking rocket.
 We're sort of searching for the right name.
 And he says that by launching satellites and servicing the space station, the company will
 have enough revenue to fund the BFR's development.
 I think we have figured out how to pay for it.
 This is very important.
 But the BFR is not going to be as big as originally planned.
 Its combo rocket and spaceship design has been scaled down, only using 31 main Raptor
 engines instead of the original 42.
 Most of the other major design elements, though, such as in-orbit fueling and propulsive landing,
 have remained the same.
 Musk also proposed a variety of new uses for the scaled-down rocket beyond just going to
 Mars, including launching satellites, taking cargo to the International Space Station,
 and even doing lunar missions to set up a moon base.
 SpaceX's current Falcon 9 fleet is used to do a few of those things already, but Musk
 says eventually the company will turn to the BFR to do all of its space missions.
 By making the Falcon Heavy and Dragon redundant, the teams and resources dedicated to those
 rockets can be applied to the BFR.
 Musk says the cost of launching cargo on the BFR will be fairly cheap, too, since the rocket
 and spaceship will be a fully reusable system, unlike the Falcon 9, which is only 70-80%
 reusable.
 However, SpaceX did not say how much it would likely cost to launch the BFR.
 The timeline for this is incredibly optimistic, too, if not unrealistic.
 Last year, Musk claimed the first crews would start flying to the Red Planet as early as
 2024.
 And this year, he said the first two cargo BFR ships will launch to Mars in 2022.
 That's just five years to create an entirely new rocket, send it to another planet, and
 land it on the surface intact.
 If it does land successfully, it'll be the heaviest vehicle to ever make it to the Martian
 surface in one piece.
 And SpaceX has blown plenty of deadlines before.
 The company was supposed to start sending astronauts to the International Space Station
 as early as this year.
 Now, the absolute earliest is 2018 or 2019.
 The company also promised to launch its new heavy-lift rocket, the Falcon Heavy, in 2013.
 The rocket hasn't yet flown, though Musk said it should launch before the end of the
 year.
 But even if these deadlines are met, there are still a lot of unanswered questions, such
 as what kind of habitats people will live in on Mars, or how a Martian colony would
 sustain itself.
 While SpaceX considers itself a transportation company first, there's still a lot of problems
 left to solve before the company can actually start transporting people to the Red Planet.