Pakistan, Aug. 8 -- SpaceX has agreed to carry scientific experiments from Italy on its Starship rocket during upcoming Mars missions. The deal was announced on Thursday by the Italian Space .

Teodoro Valente, president of the Italian Space , expressed excitement, saying, "Italy is going to Mars!" He added that the experiments will fly on Starship's first trips with paying customers to the red planet.

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, aims to colonize Mars using the massive Starship rocket. Despite recent test failures and explosions, Musk remains optimistic, expecting the first Starship launches as early as next year.

SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell called the partnership "first-of-its-kind" and hinted that more collaborations with Italy...