SpaceX Plans to Send Spacecraft to Mars in 2018

SpaceX on Wednesday announced plans to send several free-flying spacecraft to Mars as early as 2018.

The company said it will attempt to launch its Dragon spacecraft, without a crew, to the red planet with help from its Falcon Heavy rocket. The missions will “help demonstrate the technologies needed to land large payloads” on Mars and provide insight on the planet’s colonization architecture, SpaceX said in a statement.