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[Editor’s note] It is well known that SpaceX head Elon Musk has a grand space dream of letting humans settle on Mars. So how much does it cost to build a city on Mars? Musk recently said that this may be the most expensive construction project in human history, with a cost of up to one-eighth of the value of the global economy.
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Muske has said, “There are many things that make people feel sad or depressed about the future, but I think that being a space civilization is one of the things that make you excited about the future.”
The SpaceX founder’s vision includes not only sending humans to Mars, but also building permanent settlements on Mars. If everything goes according to plan, Musk believes that such a self-sufficient Mars city may be formed as early as 2050.
If SpaceX wants to build a new city in just 30 years, what is the cost?Announced on Twitter: “$100 billion to $10 trillion.”
▲SpaceX founder Elon Musk
Building a Mars City price
Muske estimates that the final cost of building this Mars city is between $100 billion and $10 trillion.
The calculation is based on the assumption that a Mars city needs to transport at least 1 million tons of cargo from the Earth in order to function properly. Musk also said so much in an interview in July 2019, and compared the overall cargo size with a lunar lander that does not need to carry so many things. He recently clarified that this is the closest to the actual number.
The cost of building this Mars city will depend on the cost of shipping each ton of cargo to Mars. Musk explained that if the freight per ton is $100,000, the total price will be around $100 billion. In 2017, Musk estimated that the freight rate was about $140,000 per ton, but he now believes that the price of $100,000 is feasible.
▲SpaceX About the Art Imagination of Mars City
So what is the intuitive concept of $100 billion for the lower limit of spending?
In terms of personal wealth, in addition to Benard Arnaut, Bill Gates(Bill Gates) and Jeff Bezos, the net worth of anyone in the world is less than $100 billion. The money is almost five times the amount of Musk’s own $22.8 billion in net assets. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has a launch cost of $62 million, which can be used for approximately 1,500 launches.
And 10 trillion dollars? The $10 trillion is more than seven times the value of New York City’s $1.4 trillion in land; at the same time, the money is almost enough to buy all of Britain’s assets, which are worth about $1.18 trillion.
On the other hand, this is about twice the amount of real money in the world. In fact, it is estimated that the annual gross domestic product (GDP) of all countries in the world adds up to about 79.98 trillion US dollars, which means that 10 trillion US dollars accounts for about one-eighth of the global economy. The money is also enough to buy the top 10 listed companies in the world with the highest market value, and still have about $3.6 trillion left.
In terms of the cost of building a new city, this is definitely an astronomical figure.
Where does the money come from?
The current SpaceX company has a valuation of more than $30 billion, and Musk has said that SpaceX will be a key source of funding for Mars.
SpaceX’s largest source of revenue is its rocket launch business. According to a research report by US investment bank Jefferies, SpaceX has topped the launch industry in the past decade. Last year’s revenue was estimated to be $2 billion, more than any other rocket company. These include rocket launch services for satellite companies and commercial space programs such as the International Space Station freight service for NASA.
Jeffrey analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu wrote in a report to investors: “Although SpaceX entered the market late, its lower price made it exceed its peers in terms of estimated annual revenue.” Musk himself believes that the company’s rocket launch business will reach $3 billion in revenue in the next few years.
At the same time, SpaceX is still financing. At the end of June this year, SpaceX submitted the latest round of financing documents, seeking financing of $314.2 million, and the price per share was $214. Once the financing is completed, SpaceX’s total financing this year will reach $1.33 billion.
Before that, SpaceX has conducted two rounds of financing of $486 million and $536 million, all of which were oversubscribed.
These funds are mainly used for two capital-intensive projects that SpaceX is conducting. among them