SpaceX has decided to put its longer-term plans for Mars on hold and concentrate instead on returning to the moon, telling investors on Friday that lunar missions will take priority, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Under the revised timeline, the company is aiming for March 2027 to carry out a moon landing mission that will not include astronauts, the report said.

Executives told investors that the company’s immediate emphasis is on advancing its Starship rocket and coordinating closely with NASA’s Artemis program. As part of that effort, SpaceX is developing a Human Landing System designed to transport astronauts to the lunar surface, marking humanity’s first return there since the Apollo era.

The shift underscores a mix of progress and pressure, reflecting advances made with Starship as well as the need to demonstrate concrete achievements in lunar exploration before pursuing more ambitious destinations such as Mars.

The update comes shortly after SpaceX agreed to acquire xAI in a transaction valuing the space company at $1 trillion and the artificial intelligence firm at $250 billion.

Elon Musk said last year that his goal was to launch an uncrewed mission to Mars by the end of 2026.

At the center of the company’s strategy is Starship, a massive stainless-steel rocket designed to be fully reusable and capable of supporting a wide range of missions, from lunar flights to eventual journeys to Mars.

The United States is also racing against growing competition from China to put astronauts back on the moon this decade, a destination that has not seen human visitors since the last Apollo mission in 1972.

Musk previously downplayed the importance of lunar missions, calling the moon a “distraction” and saying SpaceX was heading “straight to Mars.”

{Matzav.com}