Elon Musk: The Survival of Civilization Depends on a Self-Sustaining City on Mars

Elon Musk: It all comes down to building a self-sustaining city on Mars as quickly as possible.

“The important thing is that we build a self-sustaining city on Mars as quickly as possible. The key threshold is when that city can continue to grow, continue to prosper even when the supply ships from Earth stop coming.

It may be that civilization dies with a whimper rather than a bang and simply loses the ability to send ships to Mars. So, you obviously need Mars to become self-sustaining and be able to grow by itself before the resupply ships from Earth stop coming.

That is the critical civilizational threshold beyond which the probable lifespan of civilization is much greater.”

Interview with Ted Cruz, March 2025