Elon Musk Shifts Focus from Mars Colonization to Building a Lunar City

SpaceX shifts focus to building a lunar city, aiming for completion in under 10 years, says Elon Musk.

SpaceX has redirected its efforts towards constructing a “self-growing city” on the Moon, a project expected to take less than a decade, according to the company’s CEO, Elon Musk.

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

The entrepreneur noted that the timeline for Mars is twice as long—over 20 years.

“The mission of SpaceX remains the same: to spread consciousness and life as we know it to the stars,” the billionaire emphasized.

Musk pointed out that travel to Mars is only feasible when the planets align, an event occurring every 26 months, with the journey itself taking six months.

In contrast, trips to the Moon can be made every 10 days, with the journey lasting two days, making the establishment of a city on Earth’s satellite much quicker.

The entrepreneur stressed that SpaceX is not abandoning plans to build a city on Mars—the project could commence in 5–7 years. However, the primary focus is on “ensuring the future of civilization,” for which the Moon is deemed more suitable.

Musk’s Promises

In comments on the publication, users noted that Musk had promised in 2012 to send a person to the “Red Planet” within 10 years.

Elon Musk has identified Mars colonization as SpaceX’s primary goal since the company’s founding in 2002. At industry conferences and employee events, he has consistently promoted the idea of creating an autonomous settlement as a safeguard for humanity in the event of a global catastrophe.

In May 2025, the entrepreneur announced the first landing of an unmanned Starship on Mars by the end of 2026.

These plans contrasted with NASA’s strategy, which focused on returning astronauts to the Moon by 2028. Musk has repeatedly criticized this approach.

SpaceX’s shift in focus occurred shortly after its merger with X. The new priority is the deployment of data processing centers beyond Earth.

“Modern advancements in artificial intelligence rely on large terrestrial data centers, which require enormous amounts of energy and cooling. The global demand for electricity simply cannot be met with Earth-based solutions without harming people and the environment,” he wrote.

In February, SpaceX submitted a request to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for permission to launch a group of 1 million satellites into orbit for data processing centers.