--- title: "Elon Musk Wants to Build a “Permanently Occupied Human Base” on the Moon" description: " \"We should have a [...] permanently occupied human base on the moon, and then send people to Mars,\" Musk said at a post-launch press event on Saturday. " date: "2019-03-03" modified: "2019-03-03" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-moon-base-spacex" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Moon" - "Space" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "moon" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" --- # Elon Musk Wants to Build a “Permanently Occupied Human Base” on the Moon ![]() *\Image: Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty Images/SpaceX/Victor Tangermann\* ## To the ISS and Beyond SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hasn't gotten much sleep this weekend. But true to form, he's already dreaming of something far more ambitious. "To be frank, I’m a little emotionally exhausted," Musk said at a [post-launch press conference]() at four o'clock in the morning on Saturday. "Because that was super stressful. But it worked, so far." The private space company has achieved a lot within the last 48 hours. Their futuristic passenger spacecraft Crew Dragon [launched early Saturday morning]() from the Kennedy Space Center and successfully docked autonomously with the International Space Station some [26 hours later](). If all goes well, two astronauts will fly on board the spacecraft to the ISS as soon as July. ## Beyond Earth's Orbit But, as expected, Musk has much bigger plans — for traveling to beyond Earth's orbit. "We should have a base on the moon, like a permanently occupied human base on the moon, and then send people to Mars," Musk said at the press event. "Maybe there's something beyond the space station, but we'll see." ## The Starship Enterprise Earlier this year, Musk admitted that he wanted to get to the Moon – and "as fast as possible," he wrote in a [Jan 31 tweet](). The vehicle that could fulfill that dream: the [stainless-steel monstrosity]() dubbed Starship. But getting Starship to the Moon will be a much harder feat to pull off than any NASA project ever. "It won’t be easy for us or SpaceX," Walt Engelund, director of Space Technology and Exploration Directorate at NASA, [told *Business Insider*]() in a February interview. But one step at a time. "We've got to focus on getting \[the Crew Dragon missions\] right, for sure. That's the priority," Musk admitted at Saturday's press event. "But then, after that, maybe something beyond low-Earth orbit." **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk says he would ride SpaceX's new Dragon spaceship into orbit — and build a moon base with NASA]() \[*Business Insider*\] **More on Crew Dragon:** *[Watch SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Dock Autonomously With the ISS]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()