SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced a shift in the company’s near-term priorities from establishing a Mars settlement to building a “self-growing city on the Moon.” In a post on X, Musk stated that the lunar project could be completed in under 10 years.
Musk cited easier logistics for the Moon, including more frequent launch windows and closer proximity to Earth, as the reasons behind this shift. He noted that Mars development would begin in five or six years and proceed in parallel with the lunar work. According to Musk, a manned Mars flight might occur in 2031. As he stated on X, “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. The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to…”
This announcement represents a change from Musk’s earlier statements. In 2017, he claimed that a Mars base would be ready for settlers as early as 2024. Early last year, Musk posted that SpaceX would go “straight to Mars” and described the Moon as a distraction. This remark was in response to space industry analyst Peter Hague, who noted that lunar regolith contains about 45 percent oxygen. In 2023, NASA demonstrated oxygen extraction from lunar regolith, which offers substantial payload savings over shipping liquid oxygen from Earth to Mars.
SpaceX serves as a contractor for NASA’s Artemis missions, which aim to return humans to the lunar surface by 2028. The Artemis II mission, an orbital mission around the Moon, is scheduled to launch in March 2024. Musk’s latest announcement highlights the evolving priorities and strategies within SpaceX as it works towards its long-term goals.
