Hello Reader,

The aerospace industry has fundamentally shifted its focus in the past few weeks. SpaceX is deprioritizing Mars to build a self-growing lunar city. Blue Origin is halting suborbital operations to focus entirely on New Glenn and the Blue Moon lander. The infrastructure for permanent off-world settlement is accelerating.

MoonDAO 🌜🌐🌛 @OfficialMoonDAO We’ve been saying it all along: the Moon is the true launchpad for humanity to explore the cosmos. 3:57 PM • Feb 10, 2026 1 Retweets 19 Likes Read 2 replies

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In our latest Town Hall, we analyzed the strategic implications of these timeline shifts and how that intersects with MoonDAO's mission and goals. The discussion covered the economic mechanics of off-world data centers powered by xAI and how the Moon provides a critical, high-frequency iteration cycle that Mars cannot currently support.

MoonDAO 🌜🌐🌛 @OfficialMoonDAO The people have spoken. 4:48 PM • Feb 12, 2026 2 Retweets 4 Likes

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2026 marks the beginning of the lunar decade. MoonDAO is positioned to act as a decentralized governance layer and a novel customer in this incoming lunar economy. Over the past four years, we've been focused on the Moon, and now NASA and commercial space have aligned with our goals and timeline.

Watch the full Town Hall here:

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​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4lDZ944Pkg​

Tune into the broadcast and join the debate in our Discord to help shape our next strategic moves, including how we deploy capital and coordinate efforts for the upcoming Q2 funding cycle.

Further Reading and Context

• ​Has Elon Musk given up on Mars?: A deep dive into SpaceX's shifting timelines and the prioritization of near-term lunar colonization.
• ​Why is Bezos trolling Musk on X with turtle pics?: Background on Blue Origin's plans to accelerate a lunar timeline and their decision to sideline suborbital tourism with New Shepard.
• ​Off-world data centers and xAI: Context on the underlying physics and energy logic driving the push to place high-demand compute and GPU clusters outside Earth's atmosphere.

Analog Astronaut Mission

We're excited to be supporting another round of analog astronaut training scholarships in 2026, this time focused on Habitat Marte in Brazil. Interested? Now's the time to apply!

Julio Rezende, PhD @JulioFDRezende MoonDAO is offering 3 scholarships of USD 850 for participants to join an analog space mission at Habitat Marte, Brazil. The mission will be happening from April 13th to 17th, 2026, also contemplating pre-mission training sessions. You can apply for this unique opportunity to 10:39 AM • Feb 13, 2026 4 Retweets 7 Likes Read 2 replies

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