Elon Musk says SpaceX plans to send large amounts of equipment to the Moon, where robots could build factories, solar panels and radiators for a future AI satellite network.(Image: Nasa)SpaceX plans to establish factories on the Moon and use robots to handle much of the construction work, CEO Elon Musk said during the company’s first quarterly earnings call as a publicly traded company.Musk explained that SpaceX intends to send large amounts of equipment and material to the lunar surface as it works towards an ambitious vision of manufacturing infrastructure beyond Earth.“We are going to land a lot of tonnage on the moon. We’re going to build the factories on the moon. The robots will be helpful with that,” Musk said during the August 4 earnings call.Factories could manufacture AI satellitesThe proposed lunar factories would initially manufacture components for SpaceX’s Starmind artificial intelligence satellite constellation. SpaceX has outlined plans for a constellation of up to one million AI satellites, with the company eventually looking beyond Earth orbit.Musk said robots operating on the Moon could help SpaceX scale up manufacturing and eventually construct an electromagnetic mass driver—a system capable of launching satellites from the lunar surface without conventional rockets.Also Read | SpaceX may launch next Starship this month, plans first-ever upper-stage tower catch“Using robots on the moon to scale up manufacturing on the moon—which, I know it sounds, like, super sci-fi right now, but it’s going to happen—will enable us to build the mass accelerator on the moon,” Musk said.The company also envisions producing solar panels and radiators on the Moon, essential for Starmind satellites, with solar panels providing power and radiators helping remove the large amounts of heat generated by the spacecraft.Story continues below this adMusk suggested that a lunar manufacturing and launch system could dramatically increase the amount of computing infrastructure that could eventually be placed in space.SpaceX has not provided detailed plans for the robotic workforce that would operate the proposed lunar factories. Musk has previously discussed using Optimus humanoid robots, developed by Tesla, for future space missions.Starship is central to SpaceX’s lunar plansSpaceX’s Starship megarocket is expected to play a central role in transport equipment, robots, and other payloads to the Moon. The fully reusable vehicle is currently preparing for its 14th test flight.Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said Starship is designed to quadruple payload capacity while reducing launch costs tenfold compared with the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.Story continues below this adAlso Read | SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket crashes into Moon after 18 months adriftThe company is also expanding the infrastructure needed to support a much higher Starship launch rate. This includes increasing Raptor engine and vehicle production, expanding storage and processing facilities, and preparing additional launch pads at Starbase in Texas and at Cape Canaveral in Florida.The lunar factory proposal is part of a much broader expansion of SpaceX’s ambitions. The company is increasingly positioning Starship as the transportation system for a range of activities in Earth orbit, around the Moon and eventually farther into space.SpaceX’s August 4 earnings call marked its first quarterly financial report since the company went public in June. The company’s revenue reached $7.8 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 92 per cent from the same period a year earlier. It reported a net loss of $541 million, an improvement from the $1 billion loss recorded in the second quarter of 2025.Musk’s comments indicate that SpaceX sees lunar manufacturing as a potential part of its future commercial and technological infrastructure.