Elon Musk: Starship is next-level. It's the first rocket that can take us to Mars.

“Starship is the most complex and advanced rocket that's ever been made by, I don't know, an order of magnitude or something like that. It's a lot. It's really next-level.

The fundamental optimization of Starship is minimizing cost per ton to orbit and ultimately cost per ton to the surface of Mars. This may seem like a mercantile objective, but it is actually the thing that needs to be optimized. There is a certain cost per ton to the surface of Mars where we can afford to establish a self-sustaining city, and then above that we cannot afford to do it.

Right now, you couldn't fly to Mars for a trillion dollars. No amount of money could get you a ticket to Mars. So, we need to get that to something that is actually possible at all.”

From: Interview with Lex Fridman, December 28, 2021