Musk says SpaceX shifting focus to 'self-growing city' on moon before Mars push

Elon Musk said Sunday that SpaceX is shifting its near-term priorities away from Mars and toward building what he described as a "self-growing city" on the moon, citing faster timelines and strategic urgency.

"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," Musk wrote in a post on X.

"The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to the stars," he added.

Musk said the moon offers a more practical testing ground because of its proximity to Earth.

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"It is only possible to travel to Mars when the planets align every 26 months (six month trip time), whereas we can launch to the Moon every 10 days (2 day trip time). This means we can iterate much faster to complete a Moon city than a Mars city," Musk wrote.

He said SpaceX still plans to pursue its long-held goal of settling Mars but on a longer timeline.

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"That said, SpaceX will also strive to build a Mars city and begin doing so in about 5 to 7 years, but the overriding priority is securing the future of civilization and the Moon is faster," Musk wrote.

The comments echo a recent Wall Street Journal report that said SpaceX has told investors it would prioritize lunar missions before attempting a Mars landing, targeting March 2027 for an uncrewed moon mission.

The shift marks a notable change from Musk’s long-standing public emphasis on Mars as SpaceX’s primary destination. As recently as last year, Musk said the company aimed to launch an uncrewed Mars mission by the end of 2026.

"No, we’re going straight to Mars. The Moon is a distraction," Musk wrote in January last year in response to a post on X.

Musk has a long record of setting ambitious timelines for major projects – including electric vehicles and self-driving technology – that have often slipped beyond their original schedules.

The renewed focus on the moon comes as the United States faces growing competition from China to return humans to the lunar surface this decade. Humans have not visited the moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The remarks also arrive amid major financial and strategic shifts at SpaceX. Less than a week ago, Musk announced that SpaceX had acquired artificial intelligence company xAI – which he also leads – in a deal valuing SpaceX at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion.

Supporters of the move say it could bolster SpaceX’s longer-term plans for space-based data centers, which Musk has argued could be more energy-efficient than Earth-based facilities as demand for AI computing power grows.

SpaceX is also preparing for a potential public offering later this year that could raise as much as $50 billion, potentially making it the largest IPO in history.

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On Monday, Musk said in response to a user on X that NASA will account for less than 5% of SpaceX’s revenue this year, despite the company’s central role in NASA’s Artemis moon program, which includes a roughly $4 billion contract to land astronauts on the lunar surface using Starship.

"The vast majority of SpaceX revenue is the commercial Starlink system," Musk wrote.

Reuters contributed to this report.