Fly them to the moon, let their ideas take flight

These include turning it into a perfect square to shipping sexist males off to exile there

SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company has become a big player in satellite launches, and achieved some impressive milestones. Mr Musk recently announced the first paying customer for a trip to the moon, namely Mr Yusaku Maezawa,
SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company has become a big player in satellite launches, and achieved some impressive milestones. Mr Musk recently announced the first paying customer for a trip to the moon, namely Mr Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese online retail billionaire. Mr Maezawa then generated even more headlines by declaring that he would invite a group of artists to travel with him. PHOTO: REUTERS
SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company has become a big player in satellite launches, and achieved some impressive milestones. Mr Musk recently announced the first paying customer for a trip to the moon, namely Mr Yusaku Maezawa,
Daniel Libeskind
SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company has become a big player in satellite launches, and achieved some impressive milestones. Mr Musk recently announced the first paying customer for a trip to the moon, namely Mr Yusaku Maezawa,
Ai Weiwei
SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company has become a big player in satellite launches, and achieved some impressive milestones. Mr Musk recently announced the first paying customer for a trip to the moon, namely Mr Yusaku Maezawa,
Laurie Anderson
SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company has become a big player in satellite launches, and achieved some impressive milestones. Mr Musk recently announced the first paying customer for a trip to the moon, namely Mr Yusaku Maezawa,
Thomas Ruff
SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company has become a big player in satellite launches, and achieved some impressive milestones. Mr Musk recently announced the first paying customer for a trip to the moon, namely Mr Yusaku Maezawa,
Eric Fischl
SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company has become a big player in satellite launches, and achieved some impressive milestones. Mr Musk recently announced the first paying customer for a trip to the moon, namely Mr Yusaku Maezawa,
Kara Walker
SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company has become a big player in satellite launches, and achieved some impressive milestones. Mr Musk recently announced the first paying customer for a trip to the moon, namely Mr Yusaku Maezawa,
Hito Steyerl
SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company has become a big player in satellite launches, and achieved some impressive milestones. Mr Musk recently announced the first paying customer for a trip to the moon, namely Mr Yusaku Maezawa,
Tacita Dean
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Its ambition is to "revolutionise space travel", but when it comes to manned missions, Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX company sometimes seems to have struggled to... well, to get off the ground.

It has become a big player in satellite launches and achieved some impressive milestones, but some of the targets and timelines linked to its grandest plans have turned out to be wildly optimistic. That's not even to mention the Tesla chief executive officer's recent behaviour, which has led some investors to question exactly which planet he is on.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on September 30, 2018, with the headline Fly them to the moon, let their ideas take flight. Subscribe