SpaceX shifts focus from Mars to Moon, Musk says

Washington, United States (AFP) Feb 9, 2026

SpaceX is putting its longstanding focus of sending humans to Mars on the backburner to prioritize establishing a settlement on the Moon, founder Elon Musk said Sunday.

The South Africa-born billionaire’s space company has found massive success as a NASA contractor, but critics have for years panned Musk’s Mars colonization plans as overambitious.