SpaceX Planning To Send Humans To Mars Amidst Rising Pressure To Succeed

On January 20th, 2018, SpaceX, the private space technology company, held an important meeting with its board of directors at its headquarters in Hawthorne, California in order to discuss its future space launch plans. SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in 2002 and gained great renown for sending the first liquid-fueled, propellant rocket engines into orbit. This paved the path for many other private space companies like Blue Origin, an aerospace company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, to thrive in the rising space technology industry.

However, due to their increasing popularity, the international community has raised the pressure to succeed as SpaceX begins future launch plans. At the meeting with the board of directors, it has been announced that SpaceX plans to be the first organization to send humans to Mars, but SpaceX is not the only private organization that plans to send humans to Mars. Rival company Blue Origin also plans to launch a plan to send humans to mars very soon. A press release from Blue Origin says that, “due to Blue Origin's technological advances we will be launching in the very near future.” There are high tensions between these two rival companies as they fight to become the first organization to accomplish this feat.

Still, at the meeting of the SpaceX board of directors there are conflicting views concerning how soon the launch should take place. However, recent launch failures in 2016 and 2019 have changed the confidence of several members of the board. Head of Disaster Response Megan Barnhill says that “We need to be pragmatic. We must not rush and have to face failure. I suggest we meet with Mr. Musk and establish a timeline that will ensure safety and reliability. It is better to take our time rather than to lose billions of money.” On the other hand, the head of Systems Reliability Terrie Melitta brought forth a conflicting view that divided the room. He says that, “We need to launch as soon as possible. There will be risks, but we can’t be afraid to take them.”

SpaceX is facing increasing pressure from not just rival companies like Blue Origin but also from one of its dominant investors--Google. A recent announcement from Google states that “Google will help fund SpaceX but if SpaceX fails to pull through we will rescind our funding.”

As SpaceX deals with financial and public pressure with the new launch plan as it will involve human lives. The head of Research and Development Kathy Wang says that “rushing the process is risking lives!” This brings into question the multi-faceted risks that can occur if the launch plan timeline is not handled carefully.

The board of directors discussed implementing an extensive course of action if the space launch fails. This course of action will include “rewarding at least $150,000-$350,000 to families of affected participants of the launch plan” and will also include a “direct apology from the head of Human Resources.” The board of directors has not yet come to a consensus over establishing a timeline for SpaceX’s launch plan to send humans to mars.