Since founding SpaceX in 2002, Elon Musk has framed the company's ultimate purpose in strikingly ambitious terms: making humanity a multi-planet species. In 2026, that goal faces its first real test, as a rare planetary alignment opens a narrow launch window that could determine how seriously to take the timeline Musk has long promised. The vehicle at the center of it all is Starship. Standing over 400 feet tall when fully stacked, it's the largest and most powerful rocket ev