Elon Musk's about-face: SpaceX to go to the Moon first after all – Mars later
For over ten years, Elon Musk has stated at every opportunity that he wants to go to Mars and that the Moon should be ignored. Now he is changing direction.
(Image: „Mars - August 30 2021“, CU/LASP EMM/EXI ITF/Kevin M. Gill, CC BY 2.0)
After more than a decade of unfulfilled promises for manned and unmanned missions to Mars, Elon Musk has ordered a strategic shift at his space company SpaceX, now prioritizing the establishment of a lunar base. The billionaire confirmed this on his social media service X, citing time savings for the change. He stated that building a self-sustaining city on the Moon could potentially be achieved in less than 10 years, “while it would take more than 20 years on Mars.” However, he added that they will not abandon plans for Mars and will begin establishing a city there “in five to seven years.”
Many unfulfilled promises
The about-face comes just days after SpaceX acquired Musk's AI company xAI, which also operates X. This move was made in preparation for a planned IPO, which is expected to bring in a record sum. The Wall Street Journal first reported on this before the weekend, and Musk has now confirmed it. However, the US newspaper also pointed out that Musk described the Moon as a “distraction” just a year ago. “We are going directly to Mars,” he claimed at the time. Furthermore, the company had originally intended to launch five Starship super rockets to the Red Planet this year.
Musk's announcement must now also be viewed against the backdrop of the billionaire's long-standing reputation for making more or less concrete announcements that are not kept. For instance, in 2014, Musk said that “people could fly to Mars in ten to twelve years.” While SpaceX has indeed revolutionized spaceflight during this period and deployed the Falcon 9, the most frequently used launch vehicle in the world, we have not come any closer to Mars. The Starship super rocket is intended to transport the material for building a Mars colony into space, but here too, SpaceX is behind Musk's overly ambitious schedule.
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Musk's decision to focus on the Moon first also aligns with NASA's strategy, which is now led by Jared Isaacman, a confidant of the billionaire. NASA plans to send humans to the Moon for the first time in over 53 years in March, although they will not land. If the Artemis-2 mission is successful, the Artemis-3 crew is expected to reach the lunar surface. NASA has always described the Artemis program as preparation for missions to Mars, and now Musk is adopting this approach. The billionaire has also announced plans to build massive data centers in space, for which the Moon would also be better suited.
(mho)
