For years, SpaceX’s mission was clear: Get humans to Mars.
“The most powerful thing we could do is establish a second, self-sustaining civilization outside of Earth,” Elon Musk, SpaceX’s chief executive, told Forbes in 2003, a year after founding the company. “And the only place that’s really feasible is Mars.”
As a reminder of that goal, SpaceX has a mural in a cafe at its Hawthorne, Calif., campus featuring the progression of human settlement on the Red Planet. The company also sells “Occupy Mars” T-shirts, which Mr. Musk has regularly worn in public.
But over the last six months, Mr. Musk has shifted SpaceX’s priorities. Though the tech mogul once forecast that humans would take off for Mars as early as 2024, he has de-emphasized reaching the planet.
Instead, SpaceX on Tuesday said it had struck a deal with the artificial intelligence start-up Cursor that could result in its acquiring the young company for $60 billion. And Mr. Musk, 54, has proposed other moonshots that could drive more attention and investment to SpaceX as it prepares for one of the largest-ever initial public offerings.
Among his pronouncements are A.I. data centers that could orbit Earth, moon-based factories and an A.I. chip manufacturing plant, all of which will contribute to a utopian future where humans never have to work, he has said.
This week, some investors and fund managers are expected to get a closer view of those plans when they visit SpaceX’s facilities in Texas and Tennessee before the I.P.O., one person who was invited said. Some investors were also scheduled to visit SpaceX’s Hawthorne campus next week, the person said.