Elon Musk just made it clear that the Moon comes first now. In a post on X, he said SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the MoonElon Musk just made it clear that the Moon comes first now. In a post on X, he said SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon

Elon links Moon plan to bigger AI and internet strategy

2026/02/09 12:37
3 min read

Elon Musk just made it clear that the Moon comes first now. In a post on X, he said SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon. The reason? It’s faster.

“We can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years,” Elon wrote, adding that Mars would take over 20. That’s a long time, and Elon says the goal of SpaceX is still to spread life beyond Earth, but doing it through the Moon is just more realistic right now.

Trips to Mars are rare. You can only launch to it when Earth and Mars are lined up, and that happens once every 26 months. Then the trip itself takes six months. The Moon, on the other hand, is right there.

Elon pointed out SpaceX can launch to the Moon every 10 days. It takes just two days to get there. That means they can keep testing, launching, and building a lot quicker. “We can iterate much faster to complete a Moon city than a Mars city,” he said.

This announcement didn’t come out of nowhere. Just last week, Elon confirmed that SpaceX is acquiring xAI, the company he started to develop the chatbot Grok. That chatbot is already plugged into the X platform, which xAI bought back in March 2025. Now, he’s combining all of it

(AI, rockets, internet satellites, mobile tech, and social media) under one roof.

According to Elon, the xAI acquisition is meant to build “the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth.” That includes AI, space-based internet, and what he called “the world’s foremost real-time information and free speech platform.”

He wants all the tech to work together. He sees this as part of the plan to build working systems on the Moon (bases, factories, and communications) that don’t rely on Earth to survive.

Elon has also said SpaceX still plans to start working on a Mars city in five to seven years, but the Moon now takes top priority. The reason is simple: “The overriding priority is securing the future of civilization and the Moon is faster,” he said.

Elon even talked about self-growing bases and automated factories that could build more bases without human help.

Meanwhile, NASA is still doing its own thing. The agency will stream the SpaceX Crew-12 launch to the International Space Station live. That’s planned for no earlier than 6:01 a.m. EST on Wednesday, February 11. Docking is expected the next morning at 10:30 a.m. The launch will happen from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The Crew-12 mission will carry four astronauts: Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway from NASA, Sophie Adenot from ESA, and Andrey Fedyaev from Roscosmos. This will be the 12th crew rotation mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and the 13th human flight on SpaceX’s Dragon since 2020.

Back in 2020, Elon said he believed humans would reach Mars by 2026. That clearly didn’t happen. Now, he’s aiming closer. Same goal, different path. Moon first. Mars can wait.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.

Market Opportunity
Dogelon Mars Logo
Dogelon Mars Price(ELON)
$0.00000003284
$0.00000003284$0.00000003284
-7.12%
USD
Dogelon Mars (ELON) Live Price Chart
Disclaimer: The articles reposted on this site are sourced from public platforms and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect the views of MEXC. All rights remain with the original authors. If you believe any content infringes on third-party rights, please contact service@support.mexc.com for removal. MEXC makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the content and is not responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided. The content does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice, nor should it be considered a recommendation or endorsement by MEXC.
Tags:

You May Also Like

White House meeting could unfreeze the crypto CLARITY Act this week, but crypto rewards likely to be the price

White House meeting could unfreeze the crypto CLARITY Act this week, but crypto rewards likely to be the price

White House stablecoin meeting could unfreeze the CLARITY Act, but your USDC rewards may be the price The newly confirmed Feb. 10 White House meeting on stablecoin
Share
CryptoSlate2026/02/09 18:48
Coral Protocol launches Coral V1, introducing on-chain Solana payments for devs

Coral Protocol launches Coral V1, introducing on-chain Solana payments for devs

Coral Protocol has launched Coral V1, a new remote agent system that simplifies multi-agent software deployment. Developers building on the project now have production-ready agents that can be rented, customized, and combined with local solutions.  According to a press statement shared with Cryptopolitan on Friday, the platform introduces new capabilities to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) […]
Share
Cryptopolitan2025/09/19 20:01
U.S. Senate panel to hold crypto tax policy hearing on October 1

U.S. Senate panel to hold crypto tax policy hearing on October 1

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a public hearing on October 1 to go after one of the most confusing messes in U.S. finance right now:- how crypto gets taxed. The committee confirmed the date in a notice first reported by Eleanor Terrett, and witnesses lined up include Jason Somensatto, Policy Director at Coin Center; Andrea S. Kramer, founding member of ASKramer Law; Lawrence Zlatkin, Vice President of Taxation at Coinbase; and Annette Nellen, Chair of the Digital Asset Taxation Working Group under the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. This hearing is meant to address a problem that’s pissed off crypto users for years, which is why every small crypto transaction, even a few dollars, triggers a tax headache. The Senate is being pushed to finally look at de minimis exemptions, which would let people use crypto for daily stuff (like grabbing a coffee) without reporting every damn thing to the IRS. Trump administration backs small crypto tax relief Cryptopolitan reported back in July that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had said that the Trump administration still wants to push through the de minimis exemption in upcoming laws. “The president did signal his support for de minimis exemption for crypto and the administration continues to be in support of that,” Karoline said. She explained that right now, using crypto for basic purchases is too complicated because of tax rules, but a change could make everyday payments smoother. “We are definitely receptive to it to make crypto payments easier and more efficient for those who seek to use crypto as simple as buying a cup of coffee — of course, right now, that cannot happen, but with the de minimis exemption perhaps it could in the future.” Karoline also revealed that President Trump plans to host a signing ceremony for the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin-focused bill expected to pass soon. That bill is part of his administration’s broader goal to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the world.” The Senate has already tried and failed to deal with this issue before. In 2020, two Democratic lawmakers proposed the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act, which aimed to ignore tax on crypto gains below $200. It didn’t even make it to a vote. A similar version in 2022 also died on the floor. Then came a broader bill in 2025 called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which covered everything from taxes to border control. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming, tried to get a crypto exemption added in for gains under $300, but that proposal got scrapped before the final bill passed. President Trump signed it into law on July 4 without the crypto language attached. Right now, the IRS says every single crypto transaction must be reported, even if there’s no gain or the amount is tiny. If you spend $5 of bitcoin, that’s a taxable event. The idea behind the de minimis exemption is to cut through that nonsense and give users room to breathe. But it hasn’t been easy. Lawmakers face real obstacles. First, the federal government depends on tax income. If it suddenly lets millions of small crypto transactions go untaxed, that means less money coming in. And there’s no sign yet of how they’ll offset that shortfall. Even with strong voices like Cynthia and Jason in the room, the Senate still hasn’t landed on a solution. October 1 might give them a chance to do something useful. Or it might be another meeting where everyone talks and nothing happens. Get seen where it counts. Advertise in Cryptopolitan Research and reach crypto’s sharpest investors and builders.
Share
Coinstats2025/09/25 09:51