SpaceX Shifts Focus to Building ‘Self-Growing City’ on the Moon, Says Musk

Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX is now prioritising plans to build a “self-growing city” on the Moon, marking a major shift from the company’s long-standing focus on colonising Mars.

Musk disclosed the development in a post on X, explaining that the Moon offers a faster and more practical pathway for establishing a permanent human presence in space. According to him, frequent launch windows to the Moon and its proximity to Earth make it a better testing ground for technologies required for off-world cities. The Moon allows rapid iteration,” Musk said, noting that missions can be launched roughly every 10 days, with travel taking only a few days, compared to Mars missions which are limited to launch windows every 26 months and take several months to reach their destination. The SpaceX founder said the proposed lunar settlement would be “self-growing,” meaning it would gradually expand using autonomous systems, robotics and in-situ resource utilisation, reducing dependence on supplies from Earth. He suggested that such a city could emerge in less than a decade if current development timelines are maintained. SpaceX’s Starship rocket is expected to play a central role in the plan, transporting cargo, construction equipment and eventually humans to the lunar surface. The company is already a key partner in NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon and establish a sustained human presence there. Despite the shift in focus, Musk stressed that plans to build a city on Mars have not been abandoned but postponed. He said work on Mars colonisation could resume in about five to seven years, after critical technologies are proven on the Moon. The announcement comes amid growing global competition in lunar exploration, with the United States and China both accelerating efforts to secure a long-term foothold on the Moon for scientific, economic and strategic reasons.