AI illustration: Uncrewed Mars landing 2018
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Cancelled

Uncrewed Mars landing 2018

“Planning to send Dragon to Mars as soon as 2018. Red Dragons will inform overall Mars architecture, details to come”
— Elon Musk · Apr 27, 2016 · Elon Musk on X, Apr 27 2016 — Dragon to Mars 'as soon as 2018' (verified @elonmusk) ↗
See his original post on XLoads Elon's actual tweet, right here.
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What actually happened

Announced April 27, 2016 for a launch as early as 2018, the uncrewed Red Dragon Mars mission was cancelled by Elon Musk in July 2017 when SpaceX dropped propulsive landing for Dragon 2 in favor of Starship. No Dragon has ever flown to Mars. Wikipedia: SpaceX Red Dragon (cancellation July 2017) ↗

The Progression

Apr 27, 2016
The promise: “Planning to send Dragon to Mars as soon as 2018. Red Dragons will inform overall Mars architecture, details to come” · Elon Musk on X, Apr 27 2016 — Dragon to Mars 'as soon as 2018' (verified @elonmusk) ↗
Dec 31, 2018
Deadline passed. Announced April 27, 2016 for a launch as early as 2018, the uncrewed Red Dragon Mars mission was cancelled by Elon Musk in July 2017 when SpaceX dropped propulsive landing for Dragon 2 in favor of Starship. No Dragon has ever flown to Mars. Wikipedia: SpaceX Red Dragon (cancellation July 2017) ↗
Today · Sep 17, 2026
Status: Cancelled · shelved. Quietly shelved.
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Receipts

LAST CHECKED 2026-07-16

SpaceX’s record

Delivered
9
50% of resolved claims delivered.
Missed
9
Deadline passed, still no-show.
Still open
33
On the clock now. All 51 SpaceX claims →

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