Overview
- Elon Musk said SpaceX has refocused on building a “self‑growing city” on the Moon within roughly a decade, with work on a Mars city to begin in about five to seven years.
- The Wall Street Journal reported SpaceX told investors it is prioritizing lunar missions and aiming for an uncrewed Starship landing in March 2027.
- Musk cited cadence and transit times as key factors, noting launches to the Moon can occur about every 10 days with a two‑day trip versus Mars windows every 26 months with roughly six months of travel.
- SpaceX’s Starship remains in development and is being adapted under a NASA contract as a Human Landing System for Artemis, as the U.S. faces growing lunar competition from China and Blue Origin intensifies its own lander effort.
- The shift follows SpaceX’s agreement to acquire Musk’s AI firm xAI, with reporting linking the realignment to ambitions such as space‑based data centers to support future space infrastructure.