SpaceX

What SpaceX does

SpaceX, formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp., builds and launches reusable rockets and operates the Starlink satellite internet network. Since completing its acquisition of Elon Musk's xAI on February 2, 2026, it also runs an artificial intelligence business. Its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 describes three segments. They are Space (reusable rockets), Connectivity (Starlink) and AI (the Grok large language model, the social platform X and computing infrastructure). TechCrunch's review of the IPO filing says Musk, the founder, was to be chief executive, chief technology officer and board chairman after the listing. It says he held about 85.1% of voting power beforehand.

Why it matters

SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Dragon carry NASA crews to the International Space Station, most recently Crew-13 on October 1, 2026. A Starship variant is one of two Moon landers NASA has contracted. Starlink had just over 10 million subscribers in May 2026 and generated $11.4 billion of revenue in 2025, TechCrunch reported. One-fifth of 2025 revenue came from government agencies, and the U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX $6.45 billion of contracts in May 2026, per TechCrunch. Shares began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on June 12, 2026, after pricing at $135. Net proceeds were about $85.7 billion, the 10-Q shows. TechCrunch called the IPO the largest in history.

Recent developments

Starship, designed to be fully reusable, reached orbit for the first time on September 28, 2026. Flight 14 deployed 26 third-generation Starlink satellites despite an early upper-stage engine shutdown. The ship splashed down in the Pacific about three hours after liftoff. Boosters were lost on both earlier flights of the V3 design, on May 22 and July 24.

In its first results as a public company, SpaceX reported second-quarter revenue of $7.81 billion, up from $4.07 billion a year earlier. It reported a $541 million net loss and first-half capital spending of $28.5 billion. TechCrunch reported that nearly $2 billion of the growth came from the AI division, which rents computing capacity to Anthropic and Google, and $1.7 billion from Starlink. In August 2026 SpaceX closed its $60 billion purchase of AI coding company Cursor, paid in stock, and announced a second Starbase in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It says it will invest $100 billion there.

Critics cite valuation, safety and pollution. Morningstar valued SpaceX at about $825 billion, against an IPO valuation of nearly $1.8 trillion, TechCrunch reported. The NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center have sued xAI over unpermitted gas turbines powering its data centers near Memphis. SpaceX said in July 2026 the turbines would not be fully removed until July 2027. The workplace safety regulator OSHA confirmed it was investigating a May 15, 2026 worker death at Starbase.

What to watch

• Reuse. SpaceX has caught the Super Heavy booster at its launch tower four times but had not tried to catch the upper stage as of Flight 14, Spaceflight Now reported. Analyst Tim Farrar said in May 2026, per TechCrunch, that without full reuse Starship might not be much cheaper than Falcon 9.
• Moon lander. NASA's inspector general said in March 2026 that Starship's ship-to-ship propellant transfer had never been done. It said NASA and SpaceX disagree on whether the lander meets the agency's manual control requirement.
• Falcon 9. SpaceNews reported in September 2026 that SpaceX plans to end commercial Falcon 9 launches within a few years, leaving the satellite industry temporarily short of launch options.
• SpaceX's August 2026 forecast of a $100 billion annualized revenue run rate by the end of 2026, reported by TechCrunch.