SpaceX’s big shift! Musk changes his tune: Mars is too far, the Moon is faster—a “moon city” will be built within ten years.

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"Time to go back to the Moon at scale." (It's time for large-scale return to the Moon!)

This past weekend, Musk posted this sentence on the X platform, announcing the advent of a new era in space exploration.

This tech fanatic who has shouted "Mars First" countless times suddenly made a 180-degree turnaround. According to an exclusive report from The Wall Street Journal, SpaceX has officially adjusted its strategic focus, temporarily shelving the Mars plan and going all out for a lunar landing mission in March 2027.

From the Mars Dream to Lunar Pragmatism

This shift is quite dramatic.

For more than ten years, Musk has regarded colonizing Mars as SpaceX's ultimate mission. He has repeatedly emphasized at numerous occasions: "The Moon is a distraction — we should go straight to Mars."

But in the end, reality triumphed over romance. Musk admitted on social media:

SpaceX has shifted its focus to building a self-expanding city on the Moon, because there is hope of achieving that in 10 years, while going to Mars would require more than 20 years.

The consideration of the time window became the key factor: Opportunities to go to Mars only occur once every 26 months during planetary alignment (six months' journey), but the launch cycle for the Moon could be shortened to once every 10 days (a two-day journey). This means the speed of iteration in building a lunar base will far exceed that on Mars.

Of course, Musk stressed that this is not giving up on Mars:

SpaceX will still be committed to building a Mars city, with plans to initiate work in 5 to 7 years.

A Trillion-Dollar Giant: The New Map of the Space Empire

Behind this strategic shift is an epic integration of capital and technology.

SpaceX has officially acquired xAI, and after the merger its valuation has soared to $1.25 trillion, instantly becoming the world's most valuable private company. At the same time, market rumors suggest that SpaceX may launch an IPO later this year, with the potential to raise $50 billion.

Even more stunning is Musk's vision for a new space business landscape: space AI data centers. In a 3-hour in-depth interview last week, Musk elaborated on this wild idea—

"It's always sunny in space, no day/night cycles, no clouds or atmosphere interference. The efficiency of solar panels is five times that on Earth, with no need for battery energy storage."

Musk asserted that within 36 months, space will become the cheapest place to deploy AI, with costs only 1/10th of those on Earth.

Space Computing Power: Surpassing Earth's Total Within Five Years

In that marathon interview, Musk threw out an even bolder prediction:

In five years, I expect the AI computing power we launch and operate in space every year will exceed the total AI computing power on Earth.

This is not just talk. According to the plan, SpaceX needs to launch about 100 gigawatts of solar power and computing payloads into orbit annually, equivalent to 10,000 Starship launches—about one per hour.

"Chip output is growing exponentially, but power output is flat. So how do you plan to power the chips—with magical energy?" Musk bluntly said that Earth's electricity bottleneck will become a ceiling for AI development, and space is the only solution.

AI + Robots: The Only Chance to Revive American Manufacturing

There are deeper industrial concerns behind the strategic shift.

In the interview, Musk unusually warned about the decline of American manufacturing. His solution is: Optimus humanoid robots + xAI digital humans.

Musk calls Optimus an "infinite money printer," emphasizing that "digital intelligence, AI chip capability, and electromechanical dexterity are all growing exponentially, and their product is the capability of robots."

xAI, meanwhile, targets the trillion-dollar "digital employee" market. "By the end of this year, if the simulation of digital humans hasn't been solved, I will be surprised," Musk predicted, saying this will be the limit of what AI can do before the physical robots arrive.

Practical Obstacles and the Urgency of Time

Ambitions are plentiful, reality is harsh.

NASA’s Artemis II rehearsal was just postponed until March due to a liquid hydrogen leak, serving as a warning for SpaceX. To meet the March 2027 lunar landing timetable, the company must launch Starship frequently and prove it can refuel in orbit—technologies which have not yet been fully mastered.

Meanwhile, Bezos’ Blue Origin is attempting to overtake with a simplified system. In January, Blue Origin announced it would pause its space tourism business to turn full attention to the lunar program.

Musk is keenly aware of the urgency of time:

We just need enough time to build AI and robots, so that we can finish before (national) bankruptcy.

From the Mars obsession to landing on the Moon, from ground-based computing to space data centers, this tech madman has once again pushed the boundaries of human imagination.

As he said at the end of the interview:

If you want to ascend the Kardashev civilization scale, the only way is to harness the Sun’s energy in space.

This time, he's choosing to start with the Moon.

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