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

Elon Musk has spent years pitching Starship as a way to send people to Mars, but the vehicle’s most radical near term shift is happening much closer to Earth. Instead of a straight line from South Texas to the Red Planet,

Elon Musk has publicly refuted claims by Peter Thiel suggesting a loss of faith in Mars colonization. Thiel alleged Musk expressed concerns about Earth's politics and AI following humanity to other planets.