SpaceX prioritizes Moon city

By Alimat Aliyeva

On Sunday, Elon Musk announced that SpaceX has shifted its focus toward building a “self-developing city” on the Moon, a project he believes could be achieved in less than 10 years, AzerNEWS reports.

SpaceX still plans to pursue Musk’s long-held dream of establishing a city on Mars within the next five to seven years, he wrote on social media, “but the primary mission is to ensure the future of civilization, and the Moon is a faster path.”

Musk’s comments follow a Wall Street Journal report on Friday, which noted that SpaceX had informed investors that a lunar mission would take priority, with a Mars flight planned later. The company is aiming for an unmanned lunar landing in March 2027.

Last year, Musk announced plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to Mars by the end of 2026.

The United States faces stiff competition from China in the race to return humans to the Moon this decade. The last time humans walked on the lunar surface was during Apollo 17 in 1972.

On Monday, Musk responded to a user on X, revealing that NASA would account for less than 5% of SpaceX’s revenue this year. SpaceX is a major contractor for NASA’s Artemis lunar program and holds a $4 billion contract to land astronauts on the Moon using Starship.

“The vast majority of SpaceX’s revenue comes from the commercial Starlink system,” Musk added.

Musk envisions the Moon city as self-sustaining, with the potential to grow autonomously through robotic construction and resource utilization. If successful, it could serve as a blueprint for human settlements on Mars and beyond, marking a historic step in humanity’s expansion into the solar system.