A city on the moon: Why SpaceX shifted its focus away from Mars

Elon Musk and SpaceX have shifted their focus from Mars to the moon as the primary target for human settlement in the near term. Musk announced that SpaceX aims to build a self-sustaining city on the lunar surface within the next decade, citing the moon’s accessibility and faster travel times compared to Mars. While Mars has long been the company’s ultimate goal, the logistical challenges and longer travel windows—occurring only every 26 months—make lunar colonization a more immediate and achievable objective. SpaceX plans to leverage its Starship vehicle, a fully reusable rocket, to transport cargo and people to the moon frequently, with launch opportunities every 10 days and a two-day trip time. This strategic pivot comes as SpaceX prepares to deploy a constellation of satellites in Earth orbit, using Starship’s heavy-lift capabilities and in-space refueling technology. Musk envisions the moon as a hub for scientific research and manufacturing, utilizing lunar resources to build satellites and support further space exploration. Establishing a permanent lunar presence could enable rapid iteration and development of space infrastructure, potentially accelerating humanity’s expansion beyond Earth. The shift also aligns with broader ambitions to harness vast amounts of energy and advance civilization’s technological capabilities. Musk referenced the Kardashev scale, which measures a civilization’s energy consumption, suggesting that lunar factories could help deploy artificial intelligence satellites into deep space, moving humanity closer to becoming a Type II civilization capable of exploiting the full power of the sun. This approach underscores SpaceX’s long-term vision of extending human consciousness and life across the cosmos, starting with a more practical and scalable lunar settlement before tackling the more distant and complex challenge of Mars colonization.