SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that the company has shifted its near-term priorities from Mars settlement to building a “self‑growing city on the Moon.” In a post on X, Musk stated the lunar project could be completed in less than 10 years, compared to more than 20 years for a similar effort on Mars.
Musk cited easier logistics for the Moon, including more frequent launch windows and closer proximity to Earth. He noted that Mars development would begin in five or six years and proceed parallel to the lunar work. Musk added that a manned Mars flight might occur in 2031.
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.
The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2026
This represents a change from Musk’s earlier statements. In 2017, he claimed a Mars base would be ready for settlers as early as 2024. Early last year, Musk posted that SpaceX would go “straight to Mars” and described the Moon as a distraction.
That remark responded to space industry analyst Peter Hague, who noted that lunar regolith contains about 45 percent oxygen. In 2023, NASA demonstrated oxygen extraction from lunar regolith, which offers substantial payload savings over shipping liquid oxygen from Earth to Mars.
SpaceX serves as a contractor for NASA’s Artemis missions, which aim to return humans to the lunar surface by 2028. Artemis II, an orbital mission around the Moon, is scheduled to launch in March 2024.
