SpaceX starts offering Starship services for Mars, and it already has its first customer

SpaceX has started offering Starship services to Mars, with the Italian Space Agency as its first customer. The agreement allows Italian experiments on initial Starship flights to Mars, gathering scientific data. SpaceX is preparing for Starship Flight 10 in August, following recent upper stage tests in South Texas. Despite progress since its first fully-stacked flight in April 2023, the last three missions ended with unexpected upper stage breakups before reaching planned splashdown areas.