BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Elon Musk said in a post on X Sunday that SpaceX is prioritizing a SpaceX lunar city — a “self-growing city” on the moon — and targeting an uncrewed lunar landing in March 2027, putting its Mars city plan on a longer clock. He said the moon’s shorter travel times and more frequent launch windows make it “faster” to build, while Mars remains the longer-term destination, Feb. 9, 2026.
Musk said SpaceX could complete the moon city in less than 10 years and still begin work on Mars in five to seven years, according to a Reuters report.
SpaceX lunar city: why Musk says the moon comes first
Musk argued that the moon’s proximity lets SpaceX learn faster than it can when Mars trips are limited by rare planetary alignments. He noted that Mars launch opportunities come about every 26 months, while moon missions could be launched far more often, letting SpaceX iterate hardware quickly, as ABC News reported.
SpaceX has not published a detailed blueprint for a SpaceX lunar city, and neither Musk nor the company explained where it would be built or what would come first. The “self-growing” description, however, suggests a settlement that expands through repeated cargo runs and construction over time.
What the 2027 target means for Artemis and Starship
Musk’s March 2027 goal appears to refer to an uncrewed landing meant to test systems needed for later astronaut missions. NASA’s Artemis III overview lists a launch “By 2028,” underscoring how difficult it has been to align rockets, landers and spacesuits on the same schedule, according to NASA’s Artemis III mission page.
NASA says the Human Landing System is the vehicle that will carry astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface as part of Artemis, and SpaceX’s Starship variant is slated for early crewed landings, per NASA’s Human Landing System program.
Continuity check: from Mars deadlines to a moon-first sequence
The pivot is notable because Musk has repeatedly set aggressive Mars timelines; in May 2025 he said SpaceX was aiming for an uncrewed Starship trip to Mars by the end of 2026, though he called it a 50-50 bet in a narrow planetary-alignment window, Reuters reported.
NASA’s moon program has also pulled SpaceX deeper into near-term lunar work. The agency selected SpaceX in 2021 to develop a commercial lander for Artemis, tying Starship’s development to a government-backed return-to-the-moon effort, according to NASA’s April 2021 announcement.
In a 2023 Artemis III explainer, NASA described the first crewed landing near the lunar south pole as “currently planned for 2027,” highlighting how both government and commercial timelines have moved since early Artemis planning, in an Artemis III explainer.
Whether the SpaceX lunar city concept becomes a new organizing mission or remains a slogan will hinge on near-term demonstrations — particularly repeated Starship test flights, in-space propellant transfer and a successful uncrewed landing. For now, Musk is betting that a SpaceX lunar city is the quickest way to reduce risk for the technologies needed for Mars later in the decade.
