Elon Musk: SpaceX Exists To "Make Star Trek Real" — He Envisions Large, Crewed Starships Traveling Between Star Systems

Elon Musk used a recent appearance at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas to explain that his company's mission extends far beyond launching satellites or colonizing Mars: he said SpaceX exists to "make Star Trek real." The remarks came during a visit by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Pentagon leaders, part of an "Arsenal of Freedom" tour of American industrial capabilities.

Musk described Starbase as being built "out of nothing" by the SpaceX team and called it a "gigantic rocket manufacturing system." He noted the site has been legally recognized as a city and is open to visitors: "you can come and visit and drive down the road and see the epic hardware."

Turning to SpaceX's broader purpose, Musk said:

"I'll tell you a little bit just about the purpose of SpaceX. It's like—we want to make Star Trek real."

He referenced the fictional Starfleet Academy and argued that science fiction should become science fact. Musk painted a long-term vision of large, inhabited spaceships carrying many people to the Moon, Mars and, ultimately, beyond our solar system to other star systems. He also mentioned the possibility of meeting extraterrestrial life or discovering ancient alien civilizations, while acknowledging the uncertainty of those outcomes.

Throughout the remarks, he emphasized the objective: to go and see what is out there. "We want to go and we want to see what's happening. And we want to have epic futuristic spaceships with lots of people in them, traveling to places we've never been to before," he said. He concluded the segment succinctly: "That's the goal."

Context And Long-Term Message

These comments build on a theme Musk has repeated for years: that humanity's long-term survival depends on becoming a multiplanetary species. In November he wrote on X, "Become multiplanetary or die. That is the choice we face." At SXSW in 2018 he warned that a distant seed of civilization could be needed if catastrophe struck Earth.

While Musk did not present technical plans, timelines, or a roadmap for interstellar travel, the speech served as a narrative moment: he positioned Star Trek-style exploration as the inspiration and end goal for SpaceX's work, shifting the company's identity from purely rockets and Mars infrastructure toward building the large crewed vehicles and training the people who could someday use them.

What He Didn't Say

Musk offered no dates or technical demonstrations. The vision is aspirational and long-term, and many scientific and engineering challenges remain before interstellar crewed travel could become feasible.

Still, for supporters and skeptics alike, the remarks clarified how Musk frames SpaceX's purpose: as an engine for ambitious human exploration that takes cues from science fiction and aims to turn those stories into reality.