Elon Musk announces new SpaceX plan for Moon base in major U-turn after claiming he could get to Mars in 4 years
Ellie Kemp
Featured Image Credit: Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images
Elon Musk has majorly backtracked on his mission to Mars, unveiling a new target for SpaceX instead.
The tech billionaire has always been vocal about his desire to 'occupy' the Red Planet, some 140 million miles away from Earth.
He's so passionate, in fact, that Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with hopes of eventually colonize Mars and make humanity a multi-planetary species.
Since then, SpaceX has become the first private company to launch NASA astronauts to the ISS - and rescued stranded astronauts from there, too.
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But that dream to send humans to Mars? It's a reach too far at the moment, apparently.
Back in September 2024, Musk took to X to announce that the 'first Starships to Mars will launch in 2 years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens'.
He added: "If those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in four years," meaning by 2028.
Musk's vision grew even further, as he continued: "Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years. Being multiplanetary will vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness, as we will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet."
Turns out, we're even further away from that future, with Musk now turning SpaceX's focus to the Moon instead.
Taking to X on Sunday (February 8), he explained more.
"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 Tesla CEO began.
"The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to the stars.
"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."
Breaking it down, it makes sense - but Musk hasn't given up on his plan to colonize Mars just yet.
"That said, SpaceX will also strive to build a Mars city and begin doing so in about 5 to 7 years, but the overriding priority is securing the future of civilization and the Moon is faster," he concluded. That gives him until 2033 to follow through on his word. Mark your calendars now...
Musk's ambitious new announcement comes as NASA is sending humans to the Moon for the first time in 54 years on its Artemis II mission, due to launch in early March.
The mission has already been delayed due to adverse weather conditions and more recently, a hydrogen leak.
But if Musk's latest vows are anything to go by, we can expect Moon visits to become a lot more frequent in the coming years.
Watch this space, I suppose!