SpaceX has signed its first commercial contract for Starship flights to Mars, agreeing to carry scientific payloads for the Italian Space Agency, according to company president Gwynne Shotwell. The pact covers the inaugural Starship missions that will include paying customers and is billed by both sides as a “first-of-its-kind” arrangement. ASI said it will place three Italian-built experiments aboard the uncrewed vehicles: a study on plant growth for life-support systems, a weather station, and a radiation sensor designed to capture conditions during the roughly six-month voyage and on the Martian surface. The launch could occur as early as 2026, the next favorable Earth-Mars window, though the schedule depends on Starship completing development and regulatory reviews. The agreement gives Italy a direct role in Mars exploration outside traditional European Space Agency programs and provides SpaceX with a cornerstone customer for its long-term vision of routine interplanetary transport. Shotwell indicated the company is negotiating additional partnerships for future flights. Separately, TechCrunch reported that SpaceX will fund and build a water pipeline linking Brownsville, Texas, to the newly incorporated City of Starbase, replacing trucked deliveries for the company town. Access for neighboring properties would be subject to an "unconditional and perpetual" agreement, underscoring the private governance model SpaceX is shaping around its South Texas launch site.