Rocket launch attendees share hopes about Elon Musk’s prediction for Mars travel by 2026

Attendees of a test launch in South Padre Island, Texas, offered their opinions on whether Elon Musk can fulfill his ambitious prediction that another craft can be sent to Mars by 2026.

American citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, watched last week as Musk's SpaceX successfully launched its Starship rocket to space. While the booster didn't make it back to land, reportedly landing in the Gulf of Mexico instead of returning to its launchpad, many attendees expressed optimism about America’s progress toward future space exploration.

Fox News Digital spoke to launch witnesses about whether they think Musk can accomplish the deadline, which is specifically set for the window every two years when the planets are most aligned.

"Watching what he does here, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised," a woman named Lisa said.

Attendees of a SpaceX launch in Texas shared their estimates of how soon Musk will be sending manned or unmanned craft to Mars.

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"The way things are progressing, I can see it," another attendee named Diane replied. 

"I believe him," one woman named Alma declared before offering a similar prediction, "I know it’s going to happen because I see how fast he’s working here."

"Anything’s a possibility with Elon," one man named Ed suggested.

"No doubt that he’ll do it," another attendee named Ron argued. "When the guy says that he’s going to do something, he does it."

Others offered a more conservative estimate about how much can be accomplished so soon.

"I don’t think that we’ll be sending people," an attendee named Anthony replied. "But I think we can get a spaceship over there and kind of see how that lands and what happens."

"I’m not so sure about 2026," another man named Gabriel said. "I do think that by the end of the decade we could see an unmanned flight to Mars."

"I don’t think so, but I’m also not directly involved," another attendee named Evan said, before noting that even so, "The pace that they’re going is just astronomically quicker than anyone else can do, but I think before 2030, that’s really possible, and I really hope I’m wrong and by 2026 that happens."

Others responded with a simple, "No."

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

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One woman named Audrey praised Musk for the way he talks about space travel, saying, "I like the idea of him saying ‘Occupy Mars,’ so hopefully it’ll go through good."

In September, Musk made bold predictions, declaring that "SpaceX plans to launch about five uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years. If those all land safely, then crewed missions are possible in four years. If we encounter challenges, then the crewed missions will be postponed another two years."

"No matter what happens with landing success, SpaceX will increase the number of spaceships traveling to Mars exponentially with every transit opportunity," he added. "We want to enable anyone who wants to be a space traveler to go to Mars! That means you or your family or friends – anyone who dreams of great adventure."

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This is consistent with his past predictions, including one in 2020 when he estimated humans would make it to Mars in six years.

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Heckman reported from Texas.