Source: The New York Times

Elon Musk-owned space company SpaceX is shifting its near-term focus away from Mars to prioritise building a self-sustaining city on the Moon. The update was shared by the tech billionaire in an X post citing faster timelines and easier launch opportunities. Sharing the post, Elon Musk said that a Moon city could be achieved in less than 10 years, while building a city on Mars would take more than two decades. While the Moon is now the top priority, Musk said SpaceX has not abandoned its Mars plans. “The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to the stars,” Musk wrote on X. When asked by a user to clarify rumours of SpaceX deprioritizing Mars mission, the tech billionaire replied saying “Moon first”.Musk was responding to a post by Teslanomics that read:

“Elon, there’s a lot of people saying SpaceX is deprioritizing Mars this Earth-Mars launch window and focusing on the moon instead. I don’t really trust this, unless I hear it from the source. Can you shed some insight on what the plan is? Thanks!”

What Elon Musk said about SpaceX deprioritizing Mars mission

In an X post, Elon 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. The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to the stars. 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.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.”

When Elon Musk proposed name for first city on Mars

Elon Musk has long talked about his plans to build a city on the red planet. So much so that he once proposed name for the first Martian city. “Elon Musk says the first city on Mars will be named ‘Terminus’,” an April 2025 post said on X.Replying to the post, Musk not only confirmed the name but also provided information on why he chose it, saying that it will ultimately depend on the residents of Mars to name their city.“It’s from Asimov’s Foundation. But I’m open to other ideas,” Musk said. “Ultimately, it will be up to the people of Mars to decide,” he added.