Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are engaged in a direct competition for lunar dominance, with their rivalry expected to escalate further. After years of planning missions to Mars, Musk unexpectedly announced last week that SpaceX is shifting its focus to the Moon, aiming to establish a "self-sustaining city." This move places him in the same celestial arena as his competitor Bezos, who has long argued that concentrating on lunar projects would benefit his rocket company, Blue Origin. The Amazon founder has consistently advocated for the advantages of building a lunar base, including the establishment of factories on the Moon.

This head-to-head competition is set to ignite a more intense 21st-century space race, this time between two billionaires who represent the era's true superpowers. For years, Musk and Bezos have competed across multiple fronts: developing their respective reusable rockets, vying for NASA contracts—including those for lunar missions—and promoting their competing visions for space exploration. Their preferred destinations—the Moon versus Mars—have also divided the broader aerospace community. In many respects, Musk appears to hold the upper hand. SpaceX has established a dominant launch business and a low-Earth orbit satellite network. A mission to Mars was originally scheduled for this year.