Elon Musk on how human colony in Mars will be governed: 'Recommend direct democracy'

'There’s a Mars transfer window in Dec 2028/Jan 2029. SpaceX could send humans crewed to Mars then,' SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said.

Elon Musk has recently shed some light on how he would like to see the planet be governed after establishing a colony on it. The world's richest person, whose primary goals include colonising the Red Planet, recently shared on his social media platform, X, that he would prefer direct democracy.

On being asked by an X user if governance on Mars would be an extension of Earth's nations, Musk wrote: “The Martians will decide how they are ruled. I recommend direct, rather than representative, democracy. Uncrewed Starships landing on Mars in ~2 years, perhaps with crewed versions passing near Mars, and crewed Starships heading there in ~4 years are all possible."

In a separate post, he added, “There’s a Mars transfer window in Dec 2028/Jan 2029. SpaceX could send humans crewed to Mars then. Future is coming fast.”

The Martians will decide how they are ruled. I recommend direct, rather than representative, democracy.Uncrewed Starships landing on Mars in ~2 years, perhaps with crewed versions passing near Mars, and crewed Starships heading there in ~4 years are all possible. https://t.co/ztvdoa1bKs Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 29, 2024

In a similar discussion in October, after SpaceX successfully returned and grabbed the Super Heavy rocket with a picture-perfect catch, Musk estimated that building a self-sustaining city on Mars would cost over $1,000 trillion -- far exceeding the current US GDP of $29 trillion.

The tech billionaire shared that recent US Mars missions have cost approximately $1 billion per ton of useful payload delivered to the Martian surface and emphasised the need for a dramatic 1000-fold improvement in rocket and spacecraft technology to make Mars colonisation economically feasible.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has outlined an ambitious vision for making human life multiplanetary.

This high cost, which has been increasing over time, presents a significant barrier to establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars.

Musk estimates that building such a city would require at least a million tons of equipment, translating to an astronomical cost of over $1000 trillion - far exceeding the current US GDP of $29 trillion.

According to his calculations, however, a 1000-fold improvement in rocket technology could be the key to bringing down the cost to around $1 trillion spread over around 40 years, resulting in an annual expenditure of less than $25 billion. An investment of this sort would make it possible to ensure the long-term survival of human civilisation without significantly impacting the standard of living on Earth, the tech billionaire said.