Elon Musk Says Humanity Cannot Be Multiplanetary Without Reusable Rockets, Draws Parallel To US Colonization

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Sunday said that the importance of reusable rockets was crucial for humans to become a multiplanetary civilization amid the billionaire’s Mars colonization goals.

Cannot Become Multiplanetary Without Reusable Rockets

Responding to a post by Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, which shared that SpaceX had reduced costs per kg to orbit by 500x from approximately “$54,500 (Shuttle era) to ~$1,500.”

Everyone obsesses over Starship’s height and thrust.

The number that actually matters: cost per kg to orbit.

Falcon 9 brought it from ~$54,500 (Shuttle era) to ~$1,500. Starship targets <$100.

A 500x reduction in 25 years. That’s the curve enabling Mars, lunar bases and… pic.twitter.com/2lHf55hOhy

— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) May 3, 2026

Musk said that the assessment of a technology lies in calculating how “it improves fundamental metrics,” adding that to achieve multiplanetary status without reusable rockets “is impossible.”

He then drew parallels to the colonial powers reaching America, saying that it would’ve been “impossible to colonize America with expendable boats.”

Any technology invention can be assessed in terms of how it improves fundamental metrics.

It is impossible to become a multiplanet civilization without reusable rockets, just as it would have been impossible to colonize America with expendable boats.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 4, 2026

Elon Musk Says Starship Will Exceed Saturn V

In a separate post, Musk said that the Starship V4 rocket, which is touted to be SpaceX’s flagship space vehicle, would exceed the NASA Saturn V rocket from the Apollo program between the late 60s and the early 70s.

Musk said that the rocket aims to achieve over “10k metric tons of thrust at liftoff or ~22M pounds of force,” which would amount to over “~3 times the power of the Saturn V Moon rocket.”

Starship V4 aims to achieve 10k metric tons of thrust at liftoff or ~22M pounds of force, which is ~3 times the power of the Saturn V Moon rocket

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 3, 2026

SpaceX IPO

SpaceX has been preparing for its IPO, which is scheduled to take place next month. However, in the buildup to the public listing, filings by SpaceX have revealed key information about the company and its future projects. For one, SpaceX’s dual-class share structure for the listing effectively outlines that Musk could only be ousted from his role as the CEO by himself.

The commercial space flight giant has also cautioned investors participating in the IPO that its goals of colonizing Mars, as well as orbital datacenters, rely on unproven technology and may not be commercially viable.

S&P 500 Rule Changes

Interestingly, the S&P 500, which is managed by S&P Global Dow Jones Indices, announced that it was beginning consultation on rule changes that could potentially help the commercial space flight company gain an expedited entry into the index.

Notably, other megacap companies potentially going public this year include Sam Altman-led OpenAI, as well as artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

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Photo courtesy: Frederic Legrand – COMEO from Shutterstock