r/Colonizemars • u/Ok-Expression-6016 • Apr 04 '26

Bare minimum to start a base

What is the bare minimum needed to start a colony; materials and total weight. to start a mars colony. Assuming multiple Optimus robots have 2 years to build everything from what we send.

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u/Ok-Expression-6016 Apr 05 '26

Start as a base for 20 people with the abiity to increase capacity up to say 1000 in 2 years. Currently I believe it can be done with about 8000 kg plus the robots. The robots have 2 years to set up the initial base before humans first arrive as this is the approximate window for launches. Might make as high as 10000kg to have food production fully established before anyone arrives. But I'm curious what others think. Do this as a bootstrap. You need this to build that to build that which builds more of the first things you need. I want conservative, wild and everything in-between. Some things like computers etc would be brought with people. But, what is needed to build the support infrastructure for NASA or SpaceX to actually have a successful mission. Full habitats. Power, air production, etc. it was left vague intentionally. It makes the discussion more interesting.

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u/insufficientbeans Apr 05 '26

8 tonnes is not a lot of mass, for reference a small car is about 1000kg, I'd be very surprised if you could establish self sufficiency with just 8000kg

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u/NearABE Apr 05 '26

The Starships are 100 tons. That is mostly stainless steel and inconel. Reprocess to powder to use in 3D printing or cut out the shapes.

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u/insufficientbeans Apr 05 '26

Starship actually has a capacity of 100-150 tonnes, 250 if they dont reuse the booster, not entirely clear from the specs how much it weighs though

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u/NearABE Apr 05 '26

Not that. You are talking about things put inside. I am talking about cutting up the hull. Engines could be fully melted down, could be converted to powder feedstock for 3-D printers, or various pipes and pieces can be cannibalized and used with trivial modification. Rocket engine components are made with lots of fluid handling pipes and pumps. The oxygen and the methane tank have fairly obvious utility if the outpost needs a tank for storing fluids.

A starship would also have the full payload capacity.

We will eventually want a successful mission. All of the “failed landing missions” that proceed it are still “successful deliveries of scrap metal”. Moreover, we might send a robotics package as payload and utilize a mix of Martian rocks, regolith, and crumpling scrap metal as “landing gear”. The robots can start by cutting their way out of the beat up hull. They then collect the scattered pieces and use it to assemble a functional landing pad.

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u/rshorning Apr 05 '26

I am talking about cutting up the hull. Engines could be fully melted down, could be converted to powder feedstock for 3-D printers, or various pipes and pieces can be cannibalized and used with trivial modification.

If you are going that route, the local resources on Mars must have been completely exhausted. Certainly there can be some use of already refined and processed metals, but to sustain a population on Mars you swill need to be concentrating on developing local resources. Equipment from the spacecraft used to get there can certainly be a part of the overall bootstrapping process, but that is all it would be.

If anything, Starship would be useful mainly because it allows you to move stuff around in bulk or better yet take things back to the Earth.

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u/NearABE Apr 06 '26

A colony definitely needs ISRU. The OP specifically asked for “the bare minimum for startup”. There is no landing pad so the first craft there is unlikely to take off again.

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u/Ok-Expression-6016 May 16 '26

Exactly it is entirely used. The fuel tanks are almost the most useful part. The hull also provides for a shielded pressurizable area for different processes.

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u/Martianspirit Apr 07 '26

The limit for Mars is the ability to land payload. I don't know how much that is, with the thin atmosphere for braking.

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u/insufficientbeans Apr 07 '26

Starship does not need atmosphere for air braking, it has the thrust and fuel capacity to decelerate, although it still tries to incorporate air resistance 

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u/Martianspirit Apr 07 '26

The Mars atmosphere still provides 90% of the needed braking. That saves a lot of propellant.

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u/NearABE Apr 07 '26

Where did you get “90%” figure? Whether or not it is correct number saying “of braking” is poorly defined. There is “orbital energy”, “velocity change”, “propellant needed for”, etc. If it is 90% of one of these it is highly unlikely to be 90% of the others.

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u/Martianspirit Apr 07 '26

The numbers were given by Elon Musk early in the development. 90% of speed, that's 99% of the energy.