"Barely a year ago, the moon was a distraction to Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of SpaceX then fixated on his ludicrously ambitious project to build a self-sustaining city on Mars within 20 years. Why bother returning to the orbiting chunk of rock humanity conquered half a century ago, he reasoned, when the greater prize of the red planet lay tantalizingly in reach for his company's mighty Starship rockets?"
"Fast forward to February 2026, and the world's richest man appears to have had something of an epiphany. In an abrupt reversal of his long-stated plans, Mars is suddenly on the back burner. And getting US astronauts back on the lunar surface before the end of Donald Trump's second term of office in three years' time is the priority now, as well as keeping them there."
Elon Musk and SpaceX have reprioritized missions, placing lunar settlement ahead of Mars colonization. SpaceX plans to build a self-growing city on the Moon potentially within ten years, citing faster timelines versus Mars, which could take over twenty years. The company intends to begin Mars city work in 5–7 years but views the Moon as the overriding priority to secure civilization's future. The shift aligns with President Donald Trump's December executive order, Ensuring American Space Supremacy, which seeks to return US astronauts to the lunar surface during his presidency. Budget overruns and technical problems have delayed NASA's Artemis program.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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