The robotic mission to the Red Planet will launch in January 2018 with plans to send a colony of humans to Mars within a decade. This illustration shows what this settlement would look like, with four astronauts arriving every two years on the one-way mission
The Dutch-based project wants to launch a supply mission to land on Mars by October 2016. The landing systems will be tested eight times before they are used to transport humans - a move that Mars One said will make the trips 'much safer than moon missions'
The Mars lander and rover, illustration pictured, will be built by Lockheed Martin. This lander design will be based on the successful Mars lander used in the 2007 NASA Phoenix mission, which was also built and tested by Maryland-based firm
The robotic mission to the Red Planet will launch in January 2018 with plans to send a colony of humans to Mars within a decade. This illustration shows what this settlement would look like, with four astronauts arriving every two years on the one-way mission
In less than five years we could be live streaming images from Mars straight into our homes under plans to install a communications satellite, artist illustration pictured, on the Red Planet. The satellite is part of the wider Mars One mission set to launch in January 2018
The satellite, artist impression pictured, will provide a 'high bandwidth communications system' to send data and live video back to Earth
The Dutch non-profit company has already gathered 200,000 volunteers for this colony, and to help fund the project, Mars One launched an IndieGoGo crowd-funding campaign.
The project raised $10,000 (£6,121) in the first hour and is currently at $78,000 (£47,600). The project is asking for a total of $400,000 (£245,000) and needs to raise this by 25 January.
A prison guard, a mother who home-schooled her children and a stand up comedian are among the 200,000 people from around the world who have applied to be among the first colonists on Mars.
The £4bn project, founded in 2010 by engineer Bas Lansdorp, is set to recoup its costs by selling the broadcasting rights to the mission.
By comparison, Nasa's rover Curiosity cost £1.8 billion.
Mars One plans to launch a supply mission to land on Mars as soon as October 2016. A ‘settlement rover’ will then land in 2018.
The landing systems will be tested eight times before they are used to transport humans - a move that Mars One said will make the trips ‘much safer than moon missions’.
The applicants have agreed to stay on the red planet for the rest of their lives - and be filmed for a reality TV programme.
