Moon over Mars: Inside SpaceX’s new space strategy

Elon Musk said on Sunday that SpaceX has redirected its efforts towards creating a “self-growing city” on the moon, claiming this goal could be achieved in under a decade.

Posting on his social media platform X, Musk wrote, “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’s long-standing ambition to colonise Mars has often drawn criticism for being overly ambitious.

Addressing the change in priorities, Musk explained that reaching the moon is far more practical in the near-term. Missions to the satellite can be launched every 10 days, with a journey time of just two days. By contrast, travel to Mars is only possible when the planets align every 26 months, and the trip takes around six months.

“This means we can iterate much faster to complete a Moon city than a Mars city,” Musk said.

The shift also brings Musk’s plans closer to the current direction of US government policy. President Donald Trump has moved away from prioritising a Mars mission in favour of taking Americans to the moon.

In an executive order issued late last year, Trump stated that the US aims to send astronauts to the moon by 2028 under NASA’s Artemis programme, for which SpaceX is a key contractor. This marked a change from Trump’s earlier declaration to place the American flag on Mars before the end of his four-year term.

Despite the change in focus, Musk stressed that SpaceX’s broader mission remains unchanged, that is, to “extend consciousness and life as we know it to the stars.” He added that the company still intends to pursue a Mars settlement, stating, “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 has repeatedly missed earlier timelines for sending humans to Mars. In 2016, he said people could potentially travel to the Red Planet as early as 2024, provided financing and planning issues were resolved.


These developments come as SpaceX considers a possible initial public offering (IPO) in mid-June. The company is reportedly aiming to raise up to $50 billion, at an estimated valuation of around $1.5 trillion.

Earlier this month, SpaceX acquired Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI in a record-breaking M&A deal. The move brings together Musk’s space and AI ventures by combining the rocket and satellite company with the developer of the Grok chatbot. The transaction values SpaceX at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion.

In 2025, SpaceX generated roughly $8 billion in profit from revenues of between $15 billion and $16 billion. Its satellite-based internet service, Starlink, was the main source of income, contributing between 50% and 80% of the total revenue.

However, a Reuters report published in December cautioned potential investors considering the SpaceX IPO. The report warned that Musk’s continued focus on Mars could introduce uncertainty for a publicly listed company.

According to the report, Musk has consistently described sending humans to Mars as his lifelong ambition. This may limit the extent to which SpaceX, once public, would concentrate solely on revenue-generating projects such as expanding Starlink into direct-to-cell services or developing space-based data centres.

There have also been several false starts regarding a SpaceX public listing, and the idea has long been linked to Musk’s Mars goals. In 2018, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the company would not go public until it was flying regularly to Mars, a milestone that has been postponed multiple times.