Elon Musk’s SpaceX has shifted gears and will now focus on a moon landing rather than Mars. The space exploration company is gunning for an unmanned lunar landing in Q1 2027.
SpaceX has reportedly informed investors of a change in roadmap, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company will now concentrate on sending the Starship to the Moon, while keeping a Martian mission on the back burner. The original plan was to launch five Mars missions in 2026.
Previously, Musk described the Moon as a distraction to SpaceX’s plan to explore Mars. The world’s richest man also assured President Donald Trump that humans would land on Mars for the first time during his presidency.
As to why SpaceX is now putting all its effort into the lunar Artemis mission, industry analysts suggest the company is responding to pressure from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The federal agency has contracted SpaceX to use the Starship to return astronauts to the Moon.
Meanwhile, rival Blue Origin is in the same boat, pausing its space tourism operations to focus on its contract with NASA. The Jeff Bezos-owned company is developing a human landing system for the same lunar mission. Blue Origin landed its New Glenn booster for the first time in November 2025.
SpaceX has scheduled another Starship test flight in mid-March.
