Musk in About-Face Says SpaceX ‘Shifted Focus’ From Mars to Moon

Entrepreneur announces his company will still pursue a Martian city but will make the moon its ‘initial focus.’

Jack Daleo

Monday, February 09, 2026 at 01:30 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk fields questions during an April 2012 media briefing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. [Credit: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

SpaceX has shifted its primary colonization focus from Mars to establishing a "self-growing city" on the Moon, a change confirmed by CEO Elon Musk.
Musk attributes this pivot to the Moon's closer proximity, more frequent launch windows, and shorter travel times, which he believes will enable faster development (under 10 years for the Moon vs. 20+ for Mars).
While the Moon is now the initial priority, SpaceX still plans to pursue Mars colonization in parallel, with missions potentially launching directly from Earth as early as 2031.
This represents a significant change from Musk's prior public statements prioritizing Mars and calling the Moon a "distraction," but it aligns with SpaceX's contract for NASA's Artemis III lunar mission.

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Sunday told “those unaware”—which would seem to be anyone outside the company, its investors, and perhaps Musk’s inner circle—that SpaceX has “already shifted focus” away from colonizing Mars in favor of building a “self-growing city” on the moon.

The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that SpaceX told investors it would place its Mars plans—which the company has touted for well over a decade—on the back burner. It will instead shift its primary focus toward an uncrewed moon landing in 2027, per “people familiar with the matter.”