Musk says SpaceX now targets building a lunar city within decade
Elon Musk said SpaceX has shifted its top priority to building a self-sustaining city on the Moon, a goal he believes could be achieved in less than 10 years, marking a sharp turn from the company’s long-standing focus on Mars. The announcement, made in a post on X, comes amid a broader restructuring across Musk’s business empire.
Musk said SpaceX concluded that a permanent lunar settlement could be developed far sooner than a Martian colony, citing shorter launch windows and travel times between Earth and the Moon. He added that while Mars remains part of the company’s long-term vision, with initial construction possibly beginning within five to seven years, the immediate objective is to secure what he described as the future of human civilization by moving faster with lunar development.
The strategic shift follows reports that SpaceX has informed investors it will prioritize Moon missions over Mars exploration. Under the revised plan, the company aims for an uncrewed Starship landing on the Moon as early as March 2027, bringing its ambitions closer in line with NASA’s Artemis program. Musk had previously dismissed the Moon as a distraction, arguing that SpaceX should go directly to Mars, but logistical advantages now appear to have driven the change in direction.
The pivot coincides with SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company, in a deal announced on February 2 that values SpaceX at about $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion. In an internal memo, Musk said the merger would support the creation of self-sustaining lunar bases, a future Martian civilization, and eventual expansion deeper into space.
Central to this vision is the development of space-based artificial intelligence infrastructure. SpaceX has filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission for an orbital data center system that could involve up to one million solar-powered satellites. Musk has argued that scaling advanced AI computing will ultimately depend on space-based solutions. The integration of xAI brings the Grok chatbot and the Colossus supercomputing systems under SpaceX’s control, forming what Musk called an unprecedented vertically integrated innovation platform.
The announcement comes as NASA’s Artemis program faces delays of its own. Artemis II, intended to be the first crewed mission around the Moon since 1972, has been postponed from its planned February launch to at least March following the discovery of a hydrogen leak during testing. The four-person crew has been released from quarantine while engineers work to resolve the issue.
Despite the setbacks, SpaceX remains NASA’s contractor for the human lunar landing system that will eventually carry astronauts to the Moon’s surface during Artemis III, currently scheduled for mid-2027. Whether Musk’s newly emphasized lunar ambitions will ultimately complement or compete with NASA’s timeline remains an open question.
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