To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Elon Musk's SpaceX Says Mars Colony Won't Recognise Earth Laws

Elon Musk's SpaceX Says Mars Colony Won't Recognise Earth Laws

He plans to send one million to the Red Planet by 2050

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

SpaceX has said that Mars will be a 'free planet', not governed by Earth laws, when the company's planned colony opens on the planet.

The plans were laid out in Starlink's beta consumer service terms that were recently sent to customers.

Under a section titled Governing Law, Elon Musk's company lays out its plans for laws on the Red Planet, saying it will rely on its own 'self-governing principles, which will be set up when the time comes.

PA

The section reads: "For services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other colonisation spacecraft, the parties recognise Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities.

"Accordingly, disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of the Martian settlement."

Last week Musk spoke during the Mars Society's annual conference to say the settlement on Mars should be self-sufficient and not reliant on Earth.

He said: "This really might come down to: Are we going to create a self-sustaining city on Mars before or after World War 3.

"And I think the probability of it being created after World War 3 - hopefully there's never a World War 3 - but the probability of after is low, so we should try and make the city self-sustaining before any possible World War 3."

It's all getting a bit Planet of the Apes, this, isn't it?

Speaking in September during a virtual 'Humans to Mars' conference, the 49-year-old billionaire promised that a Martian settlement would be 'glorious' but admitted that it's not without its risks.

He said: "Getting to Mars, I think, is not the fundamental issue.

PA

"The fundamental issue is building a base, building a city on Mars that is self-sustaining.

"We're going to build a propellant plant, an initial Mars base - Mars Base Alpha - and then get it to the point where it's self-sustaining.

"I want to emphasise that this is a very hard and dangerous, difficult thing, not for the faint of heart. Good chance you'll die, it's going to be tough going, but it will be pretty glorious if it works out."

SpaceX has said it plans to send a million people to live on Mars by 2050, which Musk reckons will involve 1,000 flights a year, with 100 people on each.

Posting his plans on Twitter earlier this year, he wrote that travel to Mars 'needs to be such that anyone can go if they want, with loans available for those who don't have money'.

The billionaire also promised that there will be 'a lot of jobs on Mars!'

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: elon musk, Interesting, space