The race to Mars is heating up with China, SpaceX, and NASA all vying to be the first to land humans on the red planet. Each of these entities has its own strategies and challenges in this ambitious endeavor.

SpaceX has moved a new iteration of its Starship model to its Starbase in Texas for preflight testing. The new model, which CEO Elon Musk described as the "V2 Starship," is the latest development in the line of spaceships he hopes will one day take a manned mission to Mars.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has agreed to carry Italian experiments on its Starship megarocket during planned future missions to Mars, according to a new deal announced on Thursday.

Italy's Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) became the first client who's signed on to send scientific experiments aboard SpaceX's first commercial flights to Mars.

SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell announced on X Thursday that SpaceX is now offering services to Mars, sharing that the company is working with the Italian Space Agency on a first-of-its-kind agreement to carry experiments on the first uncrewed Starship flights to the red planet.

Elon Musk has adjusted SpaceX's Mars mission timeline, pushing back the potential Starship launch to 2028 for uncrewed flights and 2030 for crewed mis

Teodoro Valente, president of the Italian Space Agency (known by its Italian acronym ASI), announced today (Aug. 7) that the organization has signed a deal to fly experiments on the first commercial Mars flights of SpaceX's giant new Starship rocket.

A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft is seen before SpaceX's Elon Musk gives an update on the company's Mars rocket Starship in Boca Chica, Texas, Sept. 28, 2019.

On Episode 172 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and guest host Rick Jenet are joined by Erika Alden DeBenedictis to discuss how terraforming Mars might work.