Feb 8 (Reuters) – Elon Musk said on Sunday that SpaceX has shifted its focus to building a “self\u2011growing city” on the moon, which could be achieved in less \u200bthan 10 years.<\/p>\n
SpaceX still intends to start on Musk’s long-held ambition of a \u200ccity on Mars within five to seven years, he wrote on his X social media platform, “but the overriding priority \u200cis securing the future of civilization and the Moon is faster.”<\/p>\n
Musk’s comments echo a Wall Street Journal report on Friday, stating that SpaceX has told investors it would prioritize going to the moon and attempt a trip to Mars at a later time, targeting March 2027 for an uncrewed \u2060lunar landing.<\/p>\n
As recently as last year, \u200cMusk said that he aimed to send an uncrewed mission to Mars by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n
The U.S. faces intense competition from China in \u200dthe race to return humans to the moon this decade. Humans have not visited the lunar surface since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.<\/p>\n
Less than a week ago, Musk announced that SpaceX acquired the artificial \u200bintelligence company he also leads, xAI, in a deal that values the rocket and satellite \u200ccompany at $1 trillion and the artificial intelligence<\/a> outfit at $250 billion.<\/p>\n Proponents of the move view it as a way for SpaceX to bolster its plans for space-based data centers, which Musk sees as more energy efficient than terrestrial facilities as the demand for compute power soars with AI development.<\/p>\n SpaceX is hoping a public offering later this year could raise as much as $50 billion, which could \u2060make it the largest public offering in history.<\/p>\n Earlier on \u200bSunday, Musk shared the company’s first Super Bowl ad, \u200bpromoting its Starlink Wi-Fi service.<\/p>\n