Short term and primary goal? Significantly cut down the costs of access to space. But long term goal is landing and taking off from another worlds, and this project produces important engineering insights that may prove useful for that goal. SpaceX has a habit of hitting multiple targets at once.
What is the goal of landing this rocket stage on earth?
Is it to use this model to land on another planet, or is it to use this model to reduce costs and reuse the first stage of the rocket?