BY COMFORT OGBONNA
Elon Musk said on Sunday that SpaceX has shifted its primary focus toward building what he described as a “self-growing city” on the moon, a goal he believes could be achieved in less than 10 years. The move marks a notable change in emphasis for the company, long associated with Musk’s vision of establishing a human settlement on Mars.
Writing on his social media platform X, Musk said SpaceX still intends to pursue its ambition of building a city on Mars within five to seven years, but stressed that the moon has become the more urgent priority. He argued that securing the future of human civilization requires a faster, more achievable objective, and that the moon offers a nearer-term path to a permanent off-Earth presence.
His comments follow reports that SpaceX has told investors it plans to prioritize lunar missions while pushing a Mars landing further into the future. According to those disclosures, the company is now targeting March 2027 for an uncrewed landing on the moon, signaling a more structured and incremental approach to deep-space expansion. As recently as last year, Musk had said he aimed to send an uncrewed mission to Mars by the end of 2026, underscoring how quickly timelines and priorities have evolved.
The renewed focus on the moon comes amid intensifying global competition. The United States faces a growing challenge from China, which has laid out ambitious plans to land astronauts on the lunar surface and establish a long-term presence there later this decade. Humans have not returned to the moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972, making renewed lunar exploration both a symbolic and strategic goal for major spacefaring nations.
Musk’s remarks also come during a period of rapid expansion and consolidation across his business empire. Less than a week ago, he announced that SpaceX had acquired xAI, the artificial intelligence company he also leads, in a deal valuing SpaceX at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion. Supporters of the move say it could strengthen SpaceX’s plans to develop space-based data centers, an idea Musk has promoted as a more energy-efficient alternative to Earth-based facilities as global demand for computing power surges alongside AI development.
SpaceX is also reportedly preparing for a potential public offering later this year, which could raise as much as $50 billion. If realized, such a listing would rank among the largest initial public offerings in history and provide the company with substantial capital to fund its lunar ambitions, satellite expansion and next-generation launch systems.
On the consumer side, Musk has been ramping up marketing efforts for SpaceX’s satellite internet business. Earlier on Sunday, he shared the company’s first Super Bowl advertisement, spotlighting its Starlink Wi-Fi service as it continues to expand global coverage and attract new subscribers.
Even as he reshapes SpaceX’s strategic direction, Musk is simultaneously pushing his publicly traded electric vehicle company, Tesla, into new territory. After playing a central role in building the global electric vehicle market, Tesla is now planning to spend about $20 billion this year as it pivots toward autonomous driving technology and robotics.
To accelerate that transition, Musk said last month that Tesla will end production of two vehicle models at its California factory, freeing up space to manufacture its Optimus humanoid robots. The move highlights Musk’s broader vision of combining advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and automation across his companies, while redefining their long-term growth paths both on Earth and beyond it.
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