Mars One is dead

Mars One Ventures, the financial arm of the project listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange via a reverse takeover in 2016 and was declared bankrupt last month.

Mars One, the company that promised to colonize Mars with human volunteers and make a reality TV show about it, has gone bankrupt, crushing the dreams of its willing participants and drawing "I told you so's" from its critics.

According to the organization, around 200,000 applications were submitted although one source, a finalist that in 2015 claimed the whole thing was a scam, said the actual number of applications received was just 2,761.

The declaration was made in a Swiss court on January 15 - and posted on Reddit this past weekend - officially dissolving Mars One Ventures AG. The CEO said he was working with other parties to "find a solution" but had nothing more to say.

'The Mars One Foundation is actively continuing its efforts to secure funding for mission next steps, either through the listed company or directly into the foundation'. The company's most recent news update was an $13.5 million investment from Phoenix Enterprises AG in July 2018.

'Mars One has a very innovative business model combining branding and media rights with the increasingly popular topic of space exploration, ' chief executive Oscar Christian said at the time.