Elon Musk has repeatedly declared that his ultimate goal is the settlement of Mars. Although he recently said that he wants to build a city on the Moon first, he has by no means abandoned his Mars ambitions. In fact, the goal is explicitly mentioned in SpaceX’s IPO prospectus.

Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society and the most important thinker who inspired Musk’s vision, argues that colonizing Mars and building cities there is technically feasible. The real question, however, is who will pay for it. Any large-scale settlement will ultimately require private investment and entrepreneurship.

One of the advantages enjoyed by a Martian colony, Zubrin argues, is its strategic position relative to the asteroid belt. Accessing many resource-rich asteroids from Mars could be easier and cheaper than doing so from Earth.

The difficult conditions on Mars would foster an extraordinary culture of innovation. Just as frontier societies on Earth often developed practical solutions to survive, Martians would be forced to become highly inventive.

When discussing exports, it is a mistake to focus primarily on physical goods. Zubrin believes that intellectual property could become one of Mars’s most valuable exports. Because settlers would constantly face challenges that........

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