The tech entrepreneur was speaking at the unveiling of SpaceX’s most impressive rocket to date, the Starship, in Boca Chica, Texas, when the subject of aliens came up. Mr Musk, who reportedly has a net worth of a staggering $20.1billion (£16.1billion), told the audience he is yet to see any signs of alien activity – but he would be the one to know if there was any indication of extraterrestrial life. The 48-year-old said: “As far as we know, we’re the only consciousness, or the only life that’s out there.
“There might be other life, but we’ve seen no signs of it.
“People often ask me ‘what do you know about the aliens?’ and I’m like, ‘man, I tell you, pretty sure I’d know if there were aliens. I’ve not seen any sign of aliens’.
“The reality is, as far as we know, this is the only place, at least in this part of the galaxy or in the Milky Way, where there is consciousness.
“It appears that consciousness is a very rare and precious thing, and we should take whatever steps we can to preserve the light of consciousness.
Mr Musk added, jokingly: ”If they are here, I hope they’re nice. You know, they haven’t killed us yet — so they must be not that bad.”
On Saturday, September 28, the South African-born billionaire unveiled a prototype of the Starship Mk1rocket which will take humans to the Moon, Mars and “beyond”.
Standing in front of a prototype of the 164ft (50m) tall, 200-ton, or 1,400 tons when fully loaded, SpaceX Starship, Mr Musk said that the rocket will be placed in Earth’s orbit within six months to test the machine.
The Starship prototype, displayed alongside SpaceX’s original Falcon 1 rocket on Saturday, is constructed of eye-catching stainless steel instead than the carbon composite or aluminium-based materials.
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“I think we should do our very best to become a multi-planet species and we should do it now.”
Mr Musk, who is also involved in Tesla, said manned flights could take place next year.
The SpaceX chief said: “I think we could potentially see people fly next year if we get to orbit in about six months.”
