The First City on the Moon: What 2040 Might Actually Look Like On The Lunar Surface
Imagine it’s 2040, you just received your flight ticket to fly to the first city on the moon aboard the SpaceX Starship. You participated in several training sessions with the SpaceX and NASA team before your flight day. When your flight date finally arrives, you and other tourists dressed in sophisticated spacesuits hop onto the starship, and after three days of flight, the almighty Starship finally lands at the lunar south pole.
Upon stepping out of the ship, you saw a futuristic city even better than the videos circulating around the media, standing in front of you. What will you be expecting to see inside this futuristic city on the moon? You are about to find out how NASA and SpaceX will build the first city on the moon before 2040.
How the Artemis Program will enable us build the first city on the Moon
As of today, NASA is the only space agency planning to land humans on the lunar surface before 2030. Of course, the agency had successfully landed 12 astronauts on the moon during its Apollo crewed missions between July 1969 and December 1972.
However, NASA is coming up with bigger plans of establishing permanent human presence on the moon through its Artemis program. The agency successfully accomplished the Artemis 1 uncrewed orbital mission around the moon in 2022.
However, NASA is about to make its first crewed orbital mission around the moon since 1972 in 2026 under its Artemis 2 crewed mission. The American agency initially planned to land astronauts on the lunar surface during the Artemis 3 mission in mid 2027.
However, on February 27, 2026, NASA’s Administrator Jared Isaacman announced that the agency will now be conducting another orbital mission during Artemis 3 in 2027, then carry out the actual moon landing during Artemis 4 mission in 2028, and also during Artemis 5 in 2028. This implies that our first set to return humans to the moon will start from 2028.
What Next After the moon landing mission in 2028?
Elon Musk recently announced his plan to move from landing humans on Mars as soon as possible to building the first city on the moon in our lifetime. The tech billionaire said that the moon is much closer to us and we could build faster on its surface with today’s technology.
Since NASA contracted SpaceX to use its Starship to land its first Artemis astronauts on the moon in 2028, the private aerospace company will easily understand how to safely touch down on the moon and start preparing for an extended stay on the moon. Elon Musk will probably use every one of his tech companies to build the first city on the moon.
How the first city on the moon will be built
NASA previously announced its plans to build powerful moon bases on Earth, then send them to the lunar surface to house the astronauts during their stay on the moon. The agency also partnered with other agencies to build a lunar gateway space station, which will be placed in lunar orbit, to give astronauts easy access to the lunar surface.
This space station is expected to be in full operation around the moon before 2030. If this happens, then it will be much easier to start building the first city on the moon. Elon Musk will rely on what is obtainable to make his dream of building the first city on the moon possible. He may start attempting to build this city on the moon, probably within the 2030s.
Firstly, SpaceX will likely build more sophisticated lunar bases on Earth, then transport them to the lunar south pole. The starship will also carry advanced Tesla humanoid robots to help set up the moon bases once the ship touches down on the lunar surface.
Musk may be looking at building as many lunar bases as possible to accommodate both astronauts and tourists who wish to visit the moon in the 2030s. With the advanced technologies of the 2030s, SpaceX will figure out how to mine water on the moon and extract other useful resources that will power the first moon city effectively.
Elon Musk will probably develop sophisticated lunar roving vehicles that will enable the lunar explorers move around the moon city. Just like the International Space Station, this first lunar city will have emergency technologies to protect astronauts and tourists in the case of any emergency.
How humans will travel to the first lunar city and back to Earth
SpaceX Starship will carry humans from Earth to the lunar surface. The Starship will also have the launch capability of leaving the lunar surface and returning to Earth.
However, lunar explorers can also use the Blue Moon spacecraft by Blue Origin to return to the Lunar Gateway Space Station, from there enter the return spaceship which will be docked at the Gateway waiting to carry humans back to Earth.
What will life look like in the first Moon City?
Space agencies plan to build the first city on the moon for astronauts and tourists who wish to visit the moon for vacation and not for an extended stay. Just like the International Space Station, both NASA and other private agencies operating this city will not allow overcrowding.
Most supplies to this first city will come from Earth, and the crew on the city at any given period will adhere strictly to the rules provided by the agencies. Once they are inside their bases, they can move around without the need for spacesuits. But every visitor must be in their EVA spacesuits for all outdoor activities.
Since the moon has 14 lunar days of constant sunlight and 14 lunar nights of extreme cold, the explorers of this city will only enjoy outdoor activities during the lunar days. However, they will likely spend the 14 lunar nights indoors in their moon bases to stay safe.
Life on the lunar surface will be extremely fun and exciting for everyone. Will you likely visit the moon if Elon Musk and NASA build the first city there before 2040?