Mars One

Mars One was a small private Dutch organization that received money from investors by claiming it would use it to land the first humans on Mars and leave them there to establish a permanent human colony. From its announcement in 2012 to its bankruptcy in early 2019, it is estimated to have received tens of millions of dollars. The organization was not an aerospace company and did not manufacture hardware.

Mars One consisted of two entities: the not-for-profit Mars One Foundation, and the for-profit company Mars One Ventures which was the controlling stockholder of the for-profit Interplanetary Media Group that also managed the broadcasting rights. The Mars One Foundation, based in the Netherlands, managed the project. The small organization had four employees, and intended to make profits by selling media (documentaries) about the personnel selection, training and colonization. The first mission was estimated by its CEO Bas Lansdorp to cost about $6 billion as of the 2010s.

The concept had been criticized by scientists, engineers, and those in the aerospace industry as glossing over logistics and medical concerns, and lacking critical concepts about hardware. The concept had been called a suicide mission by academia, the spaceflight industry, and international news. On 15 January 2019, a court decision was settled to liquidate the for-profit company, bankrupting it in the process.