Musk Shifts Focus to Moon as Mars Mission Remains Years Away

Feb. 9, 2026, 3:11 PM UTC

While most Americans were transfixed by this year’s Super Bowl proceedings on Sunday night, Elon Musk took to X to proclaim that SpaceX would focus on building out a base on the moon before sending humans to Mars.

And Musk was careful to couch his announcement in a way that didn’t make it sound like a surprise.

“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,” Musk wrote in his post.

On the face of ...

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