Casey Handmer is the founder of Terraform Industries, a company developing technology to produce low-cost natural gas from sunlight and air. In January, the company closed its latest $26 million funding round.

A former researcher at Caltech, Hyperloop, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Handmer has authored several influential books on Mars colonization and industrialization.

This piece was originally published on his blog.

As of today, it is 592 days until October 17, 2026, when the mass-optimal launch window to Mars opens next.

While I don’t have any privileged information, it’s fun to speculate about what SpaceX could choose to send on its first Starship flights to Mars. (Spoiler alert: Rods from the gods…)

Over the next 600 days, SpaceX has a number of key technologies to demonstrate: orbit, reuse, refill, and chill.