NASA is evaluating whether it should send rockets to Mars during launch windows in 2026 and 2028.

The agency faces large budget cuts, but continues prioritizing a Mars mission. SpaceX CEO and President Donald Trump’s confidant, Elon Musk, could be well-positioned to supply the demand.

Recommended Stories

• Elon Musk claims voyage to Mars is needed since Earth will be 'incinerated'
• WATCH LIVE: Blue Origin launches all-female mission featuring Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez, and others
• Singer Katy Perry traveling to space on Monday with all-female crew

“We are evaluating every opportunity, including launch windows in 2026 and 2028, to test technologies that will land humans on Mars,” NASA spokeswoman Bethany Stevens told Politico.

The White House budget listed cuts for every NASA program except for “Human Space Exploration,” which got a $647 million funding boost. More than $1 billion was set aside for Mars programs. The budget cut more than $2 billion in “Space Science” programs, including a Mars sample return mission that the government said would be made redundant by a human mission to Mars.

The budget also sets aside $7 billion for a lunar mission.

The White House said in a statement in mid-April following Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s meeting that the United States would partner with Italy on a Mars mission.

“We are proud to partner on Space Technology, including through two Mars Missions in 2026 and 2028, and lunar surface exploration on future Artemis missions,” the statement says.

Politico reported that NASA employees were unaware of a Mars effort before the meeting.

Trump promised to send a person to Mars during his second term in his inauguration speech.

“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars,” he said.

NASA CHIEF NOMINEE SAYS HE WON’T ALLOW MUSK TO INFLUENCE SPACE AGENCY AS SIGHTS SET ON MARS, MOON

SpaceX is currently testing a spaceship called Starship that is supposedly capable of reaching Mars. The last two launches, on Jan. 16 and March 6, were failures, with both ships exploding, though some of their rocket boosters were recovered in both incidents.

The next launch is slated for May 19, with several others planned in the future. The government has already selected Starship to carry astronauts to the lunar surface on its Artemis III mission.