NEW YORK, February 9. /TASS/. SpaceX’s key goal is to set up the first city on the Moon in less than 10 years, founder Elon Musk said on Sunday.

"For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years," he wrote on X.

Musk said that a window for a flight to Mars opens once every 26 months and travel time amounts to six months, while trips to the Moon can be carried out once every 10 days, and last for only two days. He said the company "will also strive to build a Mars city and begin doing so in about 5 to 7 years."

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal citing sources reported that SpaceX expects to carry out the first unmanned landing of the Starship spacecraft on the Moon in March 2027. It said the company will focus on the lunar program in conjunction with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and temporarily abandoned ambitions to send a spacecraft to Mars.

In the spring of 2019, NASA launched the Artemis lunar program project, consisting of three stages. The first of them (Artemis I) provided for an unmanned flight of the Orion spacecraft around the Moon and its return to Earth. The flight took place on November 16 - December 11, 2022. The second stage (Artemis II) involves a flyby of the Earth's natural satellite with a crew on board. It can take place as early as this March. At the third stage (Artemis III) NASA expects to land astronauts on the Moon. In June 2025, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said that a moon landing could take place in the next 3.5 years, although NASA had previously called the approximate date mid-2027.