CancelledUncrewed Mars landing 2018
“Planning to send Dragon to Mars as soon as 2018. Red Dragons will inform overall Mars architecture, details…”
“We expect to see the vehicle on the pad in November or December of next year… Expecting to see a launch sometime in 2013.”
— as reported (paraphrase) · Apr 5, 2011 · SpaceX official 'SpaceX Next - Falcon Heavy Press Conference', National Press Club, Apr 5 2011 21:00 ↗
▶ WATCH HIM SAY IT @ 21:00 — SPACEX OFFICIAL 'SPACEX NEXT - FALCON HEAVY PRESS CONFERENCE', NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, APR 5 2011
What actually happened
SpaceX unveiled Falcon Heavy at an April 2011 press conference targeting a 2013 first flight. Repeated delays (Falcon 9 anomalies, integration challenges) pushed the maiden launch to February 6, 2018, when it successfully flew carrying a Tesla Roadster - roughly five years past the original target. Wikipedia: Falcon Heavy test flight (maiden launch Feb 6 2018) ↗
The Progression
Apr 5, 2011
The promise: “We expect to see the vehicle on the pad in November or December of next year… Expecting to see a launch sometime in 2013.” · SpaceX official 'SpaceX Next - Falcon Heavy Press Conference', National Press Club, Apr 5 2011 21:00 ↗
Feb 6, 2018
Delivered · Late — 4.1 years late. SpaceX unveiled Falcon Heavy at an April 2011 press conference targeting a 2013 first flight. Repeated delays (Falcon 9 anomalies, integration challenges) pushed the maiden launch to February 6, 2018, when it successfully flew carrying a Tesla Roadster - roughly five years past the original target. Wikipedia: Falcon Heavy test flight (maiden launch Feb 6 2018) ↗
Today · Jul 16, 2026
Status: Delivered · Late · 4.1 years late. It happened — eventually.
At an April 2011 press conference at the National Press Club, Musk announced the Falcon Heavy with a first launch initially scheduled for 2013. The rocket did eventually fly — its debut came on February 6, 2018, more than four years behind the original schedule — making this one delivered, but delivered late.
Receipts
LAST CHECKED 2026-06-22- [VIDEO] SpaceX official 'SpaceX Next - Falcon Heavy Press Conference', National Press Club, Apr 5 2011 @ 21:00
- [REPORT] en.wikipedia.org
- [REPORT] NSS summary of the press conference
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