Vladimir Putin compares Elon Musk with a Soviet hero. The words addressed to students in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with students from the Bauman State Technical University in Moscow, Wednesday, April 17, 2025. Credit: Kristina Kormilitsyna / AP / Profimedia
Russia's President Vladimir Putin, praised Elon Musk on Wednesday, telling the students of Bauman University that the US billionaire is a pioneer comparable to the legendary Soviet designer of rockets and space systems Sergei Koroliov, AFP reports.
The statements of the Russian leader came in the context in which Moscow and Washington restored the contacts under the administration of President Donald Trump, in which the founder of Spacex, Elon Musk, is a key figure.
“You know, there is a man-he lives in the States-Musk, who, you could say, speaks with enthusiasm about Mars,” Putin told Bauman University, a Moscow educational institution specialized in science and engineering.
“These are the kind of people who do not often appear in the human population, loaded with a certain idea,” continued the President of Russia.
“If it seems incredible even today, such ideas often materialize after a while. Like Koroliov's ideas, our pioneers have appeared at the right time,” added Vladimir Putin.
Serghei Koroliov (b. January 12, 1907 – d. January 14, 1966) is considered the father of the Soviet space program, projecting Sputnik, the first artificial satellite of the Soviet Union, but also Vostok, the space shuttle that took Yuri Gagarin on orbit in 1961, in the first space flight with human crew.
Elon Musk wants to send people to Mars
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and a close relative of President Trump, is the head of Spacex, an American company that launches NASA rockets and owns the Starink satellite Internet network.
In March, Musk accused the Ukrainian president of wanting an endless war, and in February he had accused Kiev of going “too far” in the conflict.
Also in March, the founder of Spacex said that the Starhip rocket will leave for Mars at the end of 2026 and will have on board Optimus, the humanoid robot of Tesla, and people could reach the “Red Planet” in 2029.
“Starship is leaving for Mars at the end of next year, transporting Optimus. If those landings are going well, then human landings could start at the earliest in 2029, although 2031 is more likely,” Musk said in an X post, a platform he owns, quoted by AFP.
