SpaceX has delayed its plans to focus on Mars and is now prioritizing a trip to the moon, the company told investors Friday, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The company will target March 2027 for a lunar landing without astronauts on board, the report added.
The aerospace firm told investors it is prioritizing development of its Starship vehicle and aligning with NASA’s Artemis program, for which SpaceX is building a Human Landing System to put astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo.
The pivot reflects both technical milestones in Starship’s development and pressure to deliver tangible results on lunar exploration before tackling more distant goals like Mars.
The news comes after SpaceX agreed to acquire xAI in a deal that values the rocket and satellite company at $1 trillion and the artificial intelligence outfit at $250 billion.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
CEO Elon Musk said last year that he aimed to send an uncrewed mission to Mars by the end of 2026.
SpaceX is developing its next-generation Starship rocket, a stainless-steel behemoth designed to be fully reusable and serve an array of missions including flights to the moon and Mars.
The United States faces intense competition this decade from China in its effort to return astronauts to the moon, where no humans have gone since the final U.S. Apollo mission in 1972.
Musk last year called the moon a “distraction” and said SpaceX is going “straight to Mars.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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