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SpaceX envisions Starship-enabled cities on the Moon and Mars in new renders

SpaceX teased a vision of a Starship-enabled Moon base at CEO Elon Musk's 2019 update. (SpaceX)

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed updated renders of conceptual Moon and Mars bases that may ultimately be made possible by the company’s next-generation Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicle.

SpaceX’s updated Mars base, circa 2019. (SpaceX)

With Starship, SpaceX hopes to enable the rapid and affordable expansion of humanity into space by ensuring that both Starship and Super Heavy are rapidly reusable. According to Musk, the ambition is to optimize their design to the point that both can launch multiple times every day, approaching a level of availability similar to modern airliners. It must be acknowledged that that is quite possibly one of the most difficult engineering challenges one could tackle, but even falling well short would likely produce a spacecraft and booster radically cheaper to operate than any rocket in history.

In SpaceX’s newest renders, Starship is backed by spectacularly expansive cities on the Moon and Mars, with the Moon base featuring an entirely new design language. SpaceX and Elon Musk have always maintained that their base/city renders are entirely conceptual and not to be taken too literally, but it seems exceedingly unlikely that the company’s high-quality CGI is not backed by some level of intentional design. SpaceX is already working on the logistical hurdles that stand between the company and large Martian cities and preliminary outpost design is well within the purview of long-term planning.

SpaceX’s render Martian city remains largely unchanged from 2017 and 2018 renders, aside from Starship’s design. (SpaceX)
Starship and Mars, circa early 2019. (SpaceX)
Starship and a Martian city, circa 2017. (SpaceX)

SpaceX’s lunar city/base render, however, is dramatically different (and more ambitious) than the renders the company has shown over the last two or so years. This year’s updated design includes a massive half-circle solar array, a propellant production and storage plant, and an expansive habitat area likely large enough to house thousands of people. Whether or not a serious SpaceX-built (or at least delivered) Moon base happens is probably entirely dependent upon whether NASA is interested or willing to help support it. SpaceX and Elon Musk have noted in the past that the company’s unequivocal priority is Mars.

SpaceX’s latest vision for a (massive) human outpost on the Moon.
A circa-2017 BFS (now Starship) delivers cargo to a large lunar base. (SpaceX)

Political winds in NASA and Congress may or may not continue to lean in the direction of a return to the Moon. Additionally, it must be acknowledged that landing Starship on the Moon with significant payload and enough propellant to return to Earth is far more technically challenging than landing on Mars. The Moon has no atmosphere to slow the rocket down, whereas a huge amount of delta V (i.e. propellant) can be saved by aerobraking and using Starship’s fins to perform skydiver-esque landings on Earth and Mars.

Regardless, it’s awesome to see what looks like a seriously fleshed-out SpaceX Moon base concept. With the first full-scale Starship prototype as few as one or two months away from flight readiness, SpaceX is closer than ever before to achieving its overarching goal: making humanity a multiplanetary species. A huge amount of work remains, no doubt, but it’s now almost impossible to act like SpaceX isn’t dead serious about achieving its (admittedly towering) goals.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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SpaceX weighs Nasdaq listing as company explores early index entry: report

The company is reportedly seeking early inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 index.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is reportedly leaning toward listing its shares on the Nasdaq for a potential initial public offering (IPO) that could become the largest in history. 

As per a recent report, the company is reportedly seeking early inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 index. The update was reported by Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the publication, SpaceX is considering Nasdaq as the venue for its eventual IPO, though the New York Stock Exchange is also competing for the listing. Neither exchange has reportedly been informed of a final decision.

Reuters has previously reported that SpaceX could pursue an IPO as early as June, though the company’s plans could still change.

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One of the publication’s sources also suggested that SpaceX is targeting a valuation of about $1.75 trillion for its IPO. At that level, the company would rank among the largest publicly traded firms in the United States by market capitalization.

Nasdaq has proposed a rule change that could accelerate the inclusion of newly listed megacap companies into the Nasdaq-100 index.

Under the proposed “Fast Entry” rule, a newly listed company could qualify for the index in less than a month if its market capitalization ranks among the top 40 companies already included in the Nasdaq-100.

If SpaceX is successful in achieving its target valuation of $1.75 trillion, it would become the sixth-largest company by market value in the United States, at least based on recent share prices. 

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Newly listed companies typically have to wait up to a year before becoming eligible for major indexes such as the Nasdaq-100 or S&P 500.

Inclusion in a major index can significantly broaden a company’s shareholder base because many institutional investors purchase shares through index-tracking funds.

According to Reuters, Nasdaq’s proposed fast-track rule is partly intended to attract highly valued private companies such as SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic to list on the exchange.

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The Boring Company’s Prufrock-2 emerges after completing new Vegas Loop tunnel

The new tunnel measures 2.28 miles, making it the company’s longest single Vegas Loop tunnel to date.

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Credit: The Boring Company/X

The Boring Company announced that its Prufrock-2 tunnel boring machine (TBM) has completed another Vegas Loop tunnel in Las Vegas. The company shared the update in a post on social media platform X.

According to The Boring Company’s post, the new tunnel measures 2.28 miles, making it the company’s longest single Vegas Loop tunnel to date.

The new tunnel marks the fourth tunnel constructed near Westgate Las Vegas as the Vegas Loop network continues expanding across the city.

The Boring Company also noted that the new tunnel surpassed its previous internal record of 2.26 miles for a single Vegas Loop segment.

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Construction of the tunnel involved moving roughly 68,000 cubic yards of dirt. The excavation process also used about 4.8 miles of continuous conveyor belt, powered by six motors totaling 825 horsepower.

The Boring Company’s Prufrock-series all-electric tunnel boring machines are designed to support the rapid expansion of company’s underground transportation projects, including the growing Vegas Loop network. Prufrock machines are designed for reusability, thanks in no small part to their capability to be deployed and retrieved easily through their “porposing” feature.

The Vegas Loop, specifically the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Loop segment, has already been used during major events. Most recently, the LVCC Loop supported the 2026 CONEXPO-CON/AGG construction trade show, which was held from March 3-7, 2026. 

As per The Boring Company, the LVCC Loop transported roughly 82,000 passengers across the convention center campus during the event’s duration. 

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CONEXPO-CON/AGG is one of the largest construction trade shows in North America, drawing more than 140,000 construction professionals from 128 countries this year.

The LVCC Loop forms the initial segment of the broader Vegas Loop network, which remains under active development as The Boring Company continues building new tunnels throughout the city.

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Tesla gathers Cybercab fleet in Gigafactory Texas

Images and video of the Cybercab fleet were shared by longtime Giga Texas observer Joe Tegtmeyer in posts on social media platform X.

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Credit: Credit: @JoeTegtmeyer/X

Tesla appears to be assembling a growing number of Cybercabs at Gigafactory Texas as preparations continue for the vehicle’s mass production. Recent footage shared online has shown over 30 Cybercabs being transported by trucks or staged near testing areas at the facility.

The images and video were shared by longtime Giga Texas observer and drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer in posts on social media platform X.

Interestingly enough, Tegtmeyer noted that many of the Cybercabs being loaded onto transport trucks were still equipped with steering wheels. This suggests that the vehicles are likely testing units rather than the final driverless configuration expected for the company’s Robotaxi service.

The vehicles could potentially be headed to testing sites across the United States as Tesla prepares to expand its Robotaxi fleet.

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Additional footage captured at Gigafactory Texas also showed the Cybercab’s side and rear camera washer system operating as vehicles were being loaded onto transport trucks.

The growing number of Cybercabs at Giga Texas comes amidst the company’s announcement that the first production Cybercab has been produced at the facility. Full Cybercab production is expected to begin in April.

The vehicle is expected to play a central role in Tesla’s Robotaxi ambitions as the company looks to expand autonomous ride-hailing operations beyond its early deployments using Model Y vehicles.

Tesla has also linked Cybercab production to its proposed Unboxed manufacturing process, which assembles large vehicle modules separately before integrating them. The approach is intended to reduce production costs and accelerate output.

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Musk has also noted that the Cybercab’s ramp will likely begin slowly due to the number of new components and manufacturing steps involved. However, he stated that once the process matures, Cybercab production could scale quickly.

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