When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.Artist’s illustration of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle on the moon during an Artemis astronaut mission for NASA. | Credit: SpaceXElon Musk has always been locked in on Mars.The world’s richest man has repeatedly said that he founded SpaceX back in 2002 primarily to help settle the Red Planet. Indeed, the company’s website places Mars front and center, explaining why the fourth rock from the sun is the best target for human exploration and expansion.AdvertisementAdvertisementMusk has generally been dismissive of our other off-Earth option, the moon. Just 13 months ago, for example, he stressed that SpaceX will go “straight to Mars,” declaring Earth’s natural satellite “a distraction.”But over the weekend, Musk threw us a curveball, announcing that SpaceX is now centering its settlement plans on the moon — at least in the short term.”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 billionaire wrote on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 8) via X, the social media platform he bought in 2022.”The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to the stars,” he added. “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.”AdvertisementAdvertisementMust hinted at this shift last week, in a lengthy update detailing SpaceX’s plans to operate a million-strong constellation of data-center satellites in Earth orbit.The vehicle that will launch all of these satellites is Starship, the fully reusable megarocket that SpaceX has been developing to achieve its off-Earth settlement goals. In that Feb. 2 update, Musk stressed Starship’s lunar potential.”Thanks to advancements like in-space propellant transfer, Starship will be capable of landing massive amounts of cargo on the moon,” he wrote.”Once there, it will be possible to establish a permanent presence for scientific and manufacturing pursuits,” Musk added. “Factories on the moon can take advantage of lunar resources to manufacture satellites and deploy them further into sp …
