Elon Musk Announces SpaceX Pivot: Moon City Priority Over Mars Settlement

Elon Musk has declared that a significant shift in SpaceX's long-term strategy is coming and that his company is now focusing more on prioritising the development of a "self-growing city" on the Moon ahead of its longstanding goal of establishing a human settlement on Mars.

Musk wrote in an X post, "For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years."

He went on to add that the change was a logical progression rather than a reversal.

Musk stated that the Moon offers a quicker path to securing humanity's multi-planetary future, adding that frequent launch windows to the Moon (every few days, with short travel times) allow for rapid iteration and development, compared to Mars' infrequent alignment windows every 26 months.

"The overriding priority is securing the future of civilisation, and the Moon is faster," he stated.

Musk's announcement is reportedly seen as a way to postpone any near-term Mars ambitions, including an uncrewed Starship mission that Musk had previously targeted for this year. Some analysts also said that such a timeline was always highly ambitious, given Starship's ongoing development challenges, including multiple test explosions, and the technical hurdles still ahead, such as in-orbit refuelling.

The pivot aligns with signals Musk has given since late last year, including hints at lunar-based infrastructure to support ambitious projects like massive space-based data centers for AI computing. SpaceX already holds a major NASA contract—valued at up to $4 billion—for the Artemis program, which involves using Starship to land astronauts on the Moon.

Despite the emphasis on the Moon, Musk reassured followers that Mars remains on the agenda. He indicated that SpaceX "will also strive to build a Mars city and begin doing so in about 5 to 7 years," running in parallel but secondary to lunar efforts for now.

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