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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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Tesla posts Optimus’ most impressive video demonstration yet

The humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network.

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Credit: Tesla Optimus/X

When Elon Musk spoke with CNBC’s David Faber in an interview at Giga Texas, he reiterated the idea that Optimus will be one of Tesla’s biggest products. Seemingly to highlight the CEO’s point, the official Tesla Optimus account on social media platform X shared what could very well be the most impressive demonstration of the humanoid robot’s capabilities to date.

Optimus’ Newest Demonstration

In its recent video demonstration, the Tesla Optimus team featured the humanoid robot performing a variety of tasks. These include household chores such as throwing the trash, using a broom and a vacuum cleaner, tearing a paper towel, stirring a pot of food, opening a cabinet, and closing a curtain, among others. The video also featured Optimus picking up a Model X fore link and placing it on a dolly.

What was most notable in the Tesla Optimus team’s demonstration was the fact that the humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network. The robot’s actions were also learned directly from Optimus being fed data from first-person videos of humans performing similar tasks. This system should pave the way for Optimus to learn and refine new skills quickly and reliably.

Tesla VP for Optimus Shares Insight

In a follow-up post on X, Tesla Vice President of Optimus (Tesla Bot) Milan Kovac stated that one of the team’s goals is to have Optimus learn straight from internet videos of humans performing tasks, including footage captured in third person or by random cameras.

“We recently had a significant breakthrough along that journey, and can now transfer a big chunk of the learning directly from human videos to the bots (1st person views for now). This allows us to bootstrap new tasks much faster compared to teleoperated bot data alone (heavier operationally).

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“Many new skills are emerging through this process, are called for via natural language (voice/text), and are run by a single neural network on the bot (multi-tasking). Next: expand to 3rd person video transfer (aka random internet), and push reliability via self-play (RL) in the real-, and/or synthetic- (sim / world models) world,” Kovac wrote in his post on X.

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Starship Flight 9 nears as SpaceX’s Starbase becomes a Texan City

SpaceX’s launch site is officially incorporated as Starbase, TX. Starship Flight 9 could launch on May 27, 2025. 

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(Credit: Jenny Hautmann/Wikimedia Commons)

SpaceX’s Starbase is officially incorporated as a city in Texas, aligning with preparations for Starship Flight 9. The newly formed city in Cameron County serves as the heart of SpaceX’s Starship program.

Starbase City spans 1.5 square miles, encompassing SpaceX’s launch facility and company-owned land. A near-unanimous vote by residents, who were mostly SpaceX employees, led to its incorporation. SpaceX’s Vice President of Test and Launch, Bobby Peden, was elected mayor of Starbase. The new Texas city also has two SpaceX employees as commissioners. All Starbase officials will serve two-year terms unless extended to four by voters.

As the new city takes shape, SpaceX is preparing for the Starship Flight 9 launch, which is tentatively scheduled for May 27, 2025, at 6:30 PM CDT from Starbase, Texas.

SpaceX secured Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for up to 25 annual Starship and Super Heavy launches from the site. However, the FAA emphasized that “there are other licensing requirements still to be completed,” including policy, safety, and environmental reviews.

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On May 15, the FAA noted SpaceX updated its launch license for Flight 9, but added: “SpaceX may not launch until the FAA either closes the Starship Flight 8 mishap investigation or makes a return to flight determination. The FAA is reviewing the mishap report SpaceX submitted on May 14.”

Proposed Texas legislation could empower Starbase officials to close local highways and restrict Boca Chica Beach access during launches. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr., opposes the Texas legislation, insisting beach access remain under county control. This tension highlights the balance between SpaceX’s ambitions and local interests.

Starbase’s incorporation strengthens SpaceX’s operational base as it gears up for Starship Flight 9, a critical step in its mission to revolutionize space travel. With growing infrastructure and regulatory hurdles in focus, Starbase is poised to become a cornerstone of SpaceX’s vision, blending community development with cutting-edge aerospace innovation.

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The Boring Company accelerates Vegas Loop expansion plans

The Boring Company clears fire safety delays, paving the way to accelerating its Vegas Loop expansion plans.

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Credit: The Boring Company/X

After overcoming fire safety hurdles, the Boring Company is accelerating its Vegas Loop expansion. The project’s progress signals a transformative boost for Sin City’s transportation and tourism.

Elon Musk’s tunneling company, along with The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and Clark County, resolved fire safety concerns that delayed new stations.

“It’s new. It’s taken a little time to figure out what the standard should be,” said Steve Hill, LVCVA President and CEO, during last week’s board meeting. “We’ve gotten there. We’re excited about that. We’re ready to expand further, faster, than we have.”

Last month, the company submitted permits for tunnel extensions connecting Encore to a parcel of land owned by Wynn and Caesars Palace. The three tunnels are valued at $600,000 based on country records.

Plans for a Tropicana Loop are also advancing, linking UNLV to MGM Grand, T-Mobile Arena, Allegiant Stadium, Mandalay Bay, and the upcoming Athletics’ ballpark. Downtown extensions from the convention center to the Strat, Fremont Street Experience, and Circa’s Garage Mahal are also in the permitting process.

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“Those are all in process,” Hill noted. “We’ve got machines that are available to be put in the ground. I think we’ve reached a framework for how these projects are going to work and how they’ll be permitted from a safety standpoint, as well as a building standpoint.”

The Boring Company has six boring machines, with three currently active in Las Vegas. Last week, TBC announced that it successfully mined continuously in a Zero-People-in-Tunnel (ZPIT) configuration, enabling it to build more tunnels faster, safer, and at a more affordable rate.

Tunneling under Paradise Road is underway as The Boring Company works on the University Center Loop. The University Center Loop is expected to connect to the Las Vegas Convention Center within two months, linking to the Westgate tunnel. The full Vegas Loop will span 104 stations and 68 miles. Even though The Boring Company’s tunnel network in Las Vegas isn’t nearly finished, it has already become a key attraction in the city.

“It’s such a great attraction for shows that are looking at this building (convention center) and we’re going to be connected to everybody in town,” Hill said. “It’s a real difference-maker.”

A few Vegas Loop stations are already operational, including those connected to Resorts World, Westgate, Encore, and all the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop stations. The Downtown Loop, which connects to the downtown area, and the Riviera Station, the hub that leads to Resorts World with Westgate destinations, are also operational.

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As The Boring Company accelerates the Vegas Loop, its tunnels are poised to redefine mobility and tourism in Las Vegas, blending cutting-edge technology with practical urban solutions.

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