TEXAS, United States — SpaceX has shifted its long-standing ambition of sending humans to Mars in favour of establishing a permanent human settlement on the moon, founder Elon Musk has said, marking a major strategic pivot for the world’s most prominent private space company.
In a statement posted on X on Sunday, Musk said SpaceX now believes building a “self-growing city” on the moon is more achievable within a decade, while human settlement on Mars would take more than 20 years.
“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 said.
The announcement signals a recalibration of Musk’s long-promised vision to colonise Mars, a goal critics have often described as overly ambitious despite SpaceX’s rapid technological advances and growing role as a contractor for the US space agency, NASA.
Technical and logistical constraints
Musk cited planetary alignment as a major obstacle to Mars missions, noting that launch windows open only once every 26 months.
“We can launch to the moon every 10 days,” he said, arguing that easier access would allow SpaceX to iterate faster and accelerate development.
The moon’s proximity, he added, offers a practical testing ground for life-support systems, infrastructure, and logistics required for long-term human settlement.
Industry analysts have long argued that sustained lunar operations could serve as a stepping stone to deeper space exploration, including Mars, rather than a competing objective.
Alignment with US space policy
The shift also aligns SpaceX more closely with current US government priorities under President Donald Trump. In an executive order issued late last year, Trump directed NASA to focus on returning Americans to the moon by 2028 under the Artemis programme.
That marked a departure from Trump’s earlier pledge to plant the US flag on Mars within his four-year term.
SpaceX plays a central role in the Artemis programme and is developing the Starship lunar lander for future missions. However, timelines have repeatedly slipped. NASA currently targets mid-2027 for the Artemis 3 mission, which would return astronauts to the moon’s surface for the first time since 1972, though experts warn further delays are likely.
Concerns remain over the readiness of SpaceX’s lunar lander, which has faced technical and regulatory hurdles.
A history of missed Mars timelines
Musk has previously set ambitious — and often missed — timelines for Mars. In 2011, he told the Wall Street Journal that SpaceX astronauts could reach Mars within 10 to 20 years. By 2016, he suggested human missions could begin as early as 2024, subject to financing and rocket development.
Those projections have since been overtaken by technical realities and shifting policy priorities.
Despite the renewed focus on the moon, Musk insisted SpaceX has not abandoned Mars entirely.
“We will also strive to build a Mars city and begin doing so in about five to seven years,” he said.
