United Kingdom, July 26 -- Sir Tim Peake predicts humans will be on Mars will commence "by the end of the 2030s".

The 53-year-old retired astronaut - who made history on December 15, 2025, by becoming the first British European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut to visit the International Space Station - thinks NASA's late-2030s timeframe for human missions to the red planet could be "brought forward" due to private firms wanting to get to Mars faster.

Speaking on the recent episode of the Infinite Monkey Cage podcast, Tim said: "NASA have been looking at late 2030s, is what they've publicly advertised as that kind of mission timeframe.

"That could be brought forward, driven by commercial companies who want to get there faster and do things ...