Elon Musk SpaceX Moon
SpaceX recently acquired Musk's artificial intelligence firm xAI in a deal valuing SpaceX at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion. (PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons)

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.

But 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 billions' fixing things on this planet. But the personal shots hit hardest. 'Can't even build a family,' one user wrote, a jab at Musk's estrangement from at least one of his 14 children across multiple relationships.

A Decade Of Missed Deadlines Behind The Moon City Pivot

SpaceX has staked its identity on Mars since Musk founded it in 2002. He promised uncrewed missions by 2022. That slipped to 2024, then 2026. None happened. Starship, the enormous rocket meant to carry colonists, has never reached orbit and has exploded repeatedly during testing. The SpaceX website still listed 2026 as the Mars target. Nobody updated the page, per CNN.

Musk's argument leans on logistics. Mars is reachable only when the planets align every 26 months, six months each way. The moon is two days away, every 10 days.

'This means we can iterate much faster to complete a Moon city than a Mars city,' according to Futurism. Reasonable physics. Less reasonable from someone who wore 'Occupy Mars' T-shirts for years and trashed NASA's entire lunar programme.

Follow The Money Behind Musk's Moon City Ambitions

Strip away the rhetoric, and the timing is telling. Days before, SpaceX completed its merger with Musk's AI firm xAI, creating a combined entity valued at roughly $1.25 trillion (£918 billion). The Wall Street Journal reported SpaceX told investors it would prioritise the moon, targeting an uncrewed landing by March 2027. An IPO worth up to $50 billion (£37 billion) is reportedly in the works. That kind of offering needs a credible pitch. Mars was no longer it.

Geopolitics adds urgency. China wants a crewed lunar landing before 2030. NASA's Artemis III, which depends on Starship, has slipped to 2028. Former acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy threatened last October to hand the contract to Blue Origin, TIME said.

Aligning with American lunar priorities suddenly looks less like retreat and more like instinct.

Musk's Glum Posts Add A Strange Personal Layer

Hours after the announcement, Musk posted something bleak. 'Life cannot just be about one sad thing after another,' he wrote, replying to himself. 'This is one of things. Bigtime.' The missing word did not go unnoticed. 'U ok?' someone responded with a meme. Days earlier he mused: 'Whoever said money can't buy happiness really knew what they were talking about.' From a man worth $779 billion (£630 billion), that buys no sympathy.

His daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, changed her surname and cut off contact in 2022. Musk blamed the 'woke mind virus.' Wilson called his version 'entirely fake.' When critics question whether he can build a community on the moon, the subtext is personal.

SpaceX has real credibility. Falcon 9 is the workhorse of commercial spaceflight, and Starlink generates billions. But launching satellites is a far cry from permanent settlements on a body with no atmosphere, temperature swings from 127 degrees Celsius to minus 173, and dust that shreds equipment. No human has walked on the moon since 1972 because the challenge remains immense.

Musk says SpaceX will still chase Mars eventually. The destination keeps shifting, the promises keep stacking, and the replies underneath his posts tell the story of a public that has heard it all before.

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