US EditionElon Musk Shifts SpaceX Focus to Building a City on the Moon
SpaceX prioritizes lunar missions to test Starship's reusable heavy-lift technology amid NASA's $2 billion Space Launch System failures and rising competition from China.
- Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, recently shifted Starship's priority from Mars to lunar missions, treating the Moon as an intermediary test range before Mars.
- Amid repeated SLS scrubs, NASA's $2 billion Space Launch System faces recurring technical failures, including a recent liquid hydrogen tank issue, raising pressure as China advances its lunar program.
- While SpaceX is positioning lunar flights to validate Starship's reusability, Musk aims to prime Starship for future Mars missions amid ongoing technical snags.
- If Starship fails on lunar missions, SpaceX risks major financial and reputational harm, with observers warning this will decide its credibility and the United States' space dominance.
- Some commentators, including Peter Thiel, say Musk has 'given up on Mars', while others see the lunar pivot as a calculated step to perfect Starship rather than abandon Mars; Eric Weinstein suggests xAI may be Musk's true focus.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Why Elon Musk is Pivoting to the Moon and Leaving the SpaceX Dream of Mars Behind (For Now)
Summary and Key Points: Elon Musk’s recent pivot toward lunar missions has reignited debate over the billionaire’s ultimate goal: Mars. While critics like Peter Thiel suggest Musk has abandoned the Red Planet, the reality is a calculated gamble on Starship’s reusability. As NASA’s $2 billion SLS rocket faces recurring technical failures, SpaceX is positioning Starship […] The post Why Elon Musk is Pivoting to the Moon and Leaving the SpaceX Drea…
Elon's Plan to Build A Moon City Ridiculed After Ditching His Plan for Mars
The Moon is a distraction. That was Elon Musk, 13 months ago, dismissing any suggestion SpaceX should bother with Earth's nearest neighbour. Mars was the prize. The company would go 'straight' there. On Sunday, he announced SpaceX would build a city on the moon instead. The mockery was instant. 'Most people can't afford to pay their bills, let alone even look towards the Moon,' one widely liked reply read. Others urged him to spend his 'obscene …
Abandoning Mars could be Elon Musk’s biggest mistake
Earlier this week, Elon Musk posted online that his company SpaceX has “shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon”, and that his work on Mars would be a longer-term project. For years, reaching Mars had been a plan for the South African multi-billionaire. Having advocated for the advanced colonisation of the planet since at least 2001, Musk had long stated a goal to settle humans there. SpaceX has consistently been involved in pl…
For years, the space pioneer begged against American plans to return to the moon, and now he's changing his mind.
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