News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
The AI burn book: Decoding the cat fights between Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Anthropic
* The AI industry's burn book is an increasingly public spectacle. * Sam Altman and Elon Musk threw jabs on X. Altman also dragged Anthropic, though CEO Dario Amodei stayed quiet. * Business Insider decoded the shade and subtweets, from the punctuation to the emojis. As the summer temperatures rise, tech tempers flare. Sam Altman is back to his old ways: openly feuding with Elon Musk and taking jabs at Anthropic once again, to the shock of no one. With Altman and Musk's courtroom dispute wrapped up (Musk lost but vowed to appeal), the dueling AI leaders are now dragging each other online over data privacy and an Apple legal battle. The OpenAI CEO has also poked at Anthropic, his primary competitor, run by Dario Amodei. Altman and Amodei were once colleagues; now, they avoid holding hands. Altman hasn't called a rival CEO a "pusher" or a "grotsky little byotch" yet. Still, a Burn Book is forming under his fingertips -- and we decoded it for you. Round One: Sam Altman vs Elon Musk Elon Musk threw the first punch last Friday. Apple sued OpenAI that day, alleging that the AI lab stole trade secrets to build its upcoming hardware device. Musk replied to posts about the suit with exclamation points, the word "wow," and a quick reaction: "Sounds pretty bad." He ramped up on Saturday, calling the OpenAI CEO "Scam Altman," a favorite phrase of his. The digs kept coming throughout the day. Altman took scamming "to a whole new level," Musk wrote, and might love scamming "more than any human alive!" Altman responded in his typical, lower-case fashion: "homeboy you're the one sellling public market investors on short-term space datacenters." Note the term of endearment (or lack thereof): "homeboy." Note the typo: "sellling." Note the lack of punctuation. Three minutes later, Altman fired off another. This time, he used the feud as an opportunity to promote his product, writing that the most reliable benchmark for GPT-5.6 Sol's success "is that elon is obsessed with me again." (Again, no capitalization.) Musk responded to Altman's space data center skepticism a few hours later with a zinger. "We start flying them next year. Maybe you can come see them if your parole officer approves," Musk wrote. In the same post, Musk took another shot at Altman by referencing their messy breakup from almost a decade ago. "After stealing an open source AI charity, you then stole all of Apple's phone technology!" he wrote. "Wow." For the record, Altman doesn't have a parole officer. OpenAI disputes Apple's allegations stating it is "not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit." OpenAI and SpaceX did not respond to Business Insider's requests for comment. After Saturday's brawl, Altman wasn't done. He took one last stab at Musk on Tuesday, reposting some data privacy concerns about SpaceXAI. "Concerning," he wrote. And yet, the enemies could find some common ground. Both Musk and Altman posted approving messages about an AI safety essay published Tuesday by Google DeepMind's CEO Demis Hassabis. Round Two: Sam Altman vs Anthropic Throughout the Musk mess, Altman continued to kick at his No. 1 opponent: Anthropic. Last Thursday, Anthropic released an eyebrow-raising ad saying there was "hope in hard questions." Those questions include: what will humans do when AI takes over all the jobs? And why do we even have to have AI? The leading image is of a house on fire; it's an AI doomer's dream. Altman clowned the ad on Monday, saying that he "thought this was satire" posted from a fake account. He also put words in Anthropic's mouth: "Hard questions are great but only if we deem you worthy enough to not silently downgrade you, or even get access at all." He appeared to reference how Anthropic quietly rejected or altered some Fable 5 prompts in its initial launch. The company has since made these safeguards more visible. Earlier that day, he laughed at an X user who called the use of Anthropic's Fable 5 an unhealthy situationship. Since its release, Anthropic has rolled back and re-deployed the model and lifted and lowered guardrails, to the frustration of some users. (In typical Altman fashion, he "lol'd.") Altman also got philosophical. He reposted a reply to a criticism of Amodei that quoted C.S. Lewis. "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive," the post read. It's similar to criticisms other AI leaders have shared: that Anthropic warns of AI's safety concerns while claiming only its AI can fix it. And then, the vague-post of all vague-posts. "Come for the best model, stay because we don't treat you with contempt," Altman wrote on Monday, without specifying which AI rival he was taking a shot at. Amodei seems to be steering clear of the drama. As of Wednesday evening, he hadn't responded, nor has he updated his X account in over a month. Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider The post The AI burn book: Decoding the cat fights between Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Anthropic appeared first on Business Insider.
Dear SpaceX Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for July 16
SpaceX Corporation (SPCX) investors have a major date circled on the calendar right now. On July 16, the company is scheduled to launch Starship Flight 13, a mission that could become the stock's biggest catalyst since its blockbuster IPO just over a month ago. The launch isn't just another test. For the first time, Starship will attempt to deploy 20 commercial Starlink V3 satellites, marking an important step toward regular commercial operations. A successful mission could help restore investor confidence after weeks of heavy selling, while another setback may add to the pressure on shares. More News from Barchart SpaceX stock has been extremely volatile since going public. Shares debuted at $150 after pricing at $135 in June, surged above $225 during the first week, and have since retreated 29.5%, sinking to its lowest price today since its IPO Debut. This is happening as investors shift their focus from IPO excitement to the company's steep losses, aggressive spending, and premium valuation. The stock currently trades at roughly 110 times expected trailing 2025 revenue of $18.7 billion, far above the aerospace and defense industry's average of 2.5 times to 3 times sales. Even after losing hundreds of billions of dollars in market value, investors are still paying a premium for the company's long-term growth story rather than its current financial performance. Starship Flight 13 Could Be a Defining Moment The July 16 mission is particularly important because it represents the second test of the new Starship V3 design after the first V3 launch ended with an explosion following splashdown in May. SpaceX says Flight 13 includes software upgrades designed to address issues from the previous mission. Beyond testing the vehicle itself, the company will deploy 20 next-generation Starlink satellites, including six equipped with cameras to monitor the spacecraft's heat shield during reentry. If the mission succeeds, investors may gain confidence that Starship is moving closer to commercial service, unlocking new revenue opportunities across satellite deployment, lunar missions, and eventually Mars exploration. Another failure, however, could reinforce concerns about execution risks at a time when investor sentiment is already fragile.
SpaceX stock falls below IPO price, testing investor confidence after blockbuster debut
SpaceX's slip below its initial public offering price risks turning a marquee stock-market debut into a confidence test, potentially unsettling retail investors and complicating decisions for other companies weighing high-profile listings. Elon Musk's company, spanning rockets to AI, debuted on June 12 and soared in the ensuing days, at one point valuing the company at well above $2 trillion. Since its debut, trading has been rocky. The stock slipped below its $150 opening price in late June with concerns about lofty tech stock valuations weighing on global indexes. The stock slid below its $135 IPO price for the first time on Wednesday, touching an intraday low of $132.15 before recovering to trade down 0.6% at $135.27 -- just over a month after the record-breaking IPO made Musk the world's first trillionaire. SpaceX shares started trading as part of the Nasdaq 100 index about a week ago. A break below the IPO price is a psychological blow for SpaceX shares, said Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak. "It raises the narrative that the stock is up on fluff, on speculation, on froth, and not on real fundamentals," Maley said. Investors who bought into the excitement around SpaceX's listing, "hoping to 'make a killing' will be disappointed," said Greg Halter, director of research at Carnegie Investment Counsel. He said weakness in SpaceX would put it more in line with 30 years of heavily hyped IPOs, where average and median returns over the first month are often negative. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. PRICE DISCOVERY NOT PANIC? A drop below the IPO price is not unusual for a newly listed company. Shares of Cerebras Systems, which went public in May, have dropped below the IPO price, and Meta, formerly known as Facebook, fell similarly after its debut. Investors often fixate on IPO prices and early trading, said Ryan Lee, senior vice president of product and strategy at financial services firm Direxion. "The reality is, (SpaceX) is still undergoing some of this price discovery process," Lee said. A fall for SpaceX below $135 reflects "normal, albeit painful" market mechanics, especially as investors, venture capitalists and employees sell shares after lockups expire, said Gabriel Shahin, CEO at Falcon Wealth Planning. "A near-term dip below the $135 threshold would not fundamentally alter our current positioning or cause us to panic-sell," he said. CAUTION OR GREEN LIGHT FOR NEXT IPOS Some investors think SpaceX's stock performance could influence the market for future public listings. OpenAI and Anthropic are eyeing the public markets. Neither company responded to a request for comment. Carnegie's Halter said companies and investment banks considering large IPOs this year are watching SpaceX closely. "No one wants an IPO to flop or have the initial price be ratcheted down," Halter said. He suspects some IPOs would be pulled rather than priced at lower valuations. But Direxion's Lee said SpaceX's capital raise could encourage some companies with large funding needs to move faster. "If I'm OpenAI or if I'm Anthropic and I'm in this true arms race to build the frontier AI model and I need capital, I'm going to try to beat the other one out the door," Lee said. RISKING RETAIL TRADERS' SKEPTICISM A drop below the IPO price could hit retail investors, who received about 20% of the allocation, hard. "Many novice investors have approached SpaceX with a 'meme stock' mentality, buying in with capital they cannot afford to lose," Shahin said, warning that losses could fuel perceptions that markets favor insiders. "The market needs to understand that post-IPO volatility is normal." SpaceX's first earnings report will be a major test for the stock. Underwriters typically support stocks in the first 30 days and may do more for SpaceX given the deal's size, the public attention and the fact other high-profile offerings are imminent, said Maria Llerena, director of financial research at Domini Impact Investments. "Loss-making companies without a clear path to profitability are typically volatile and can fall below their IPO price," said Llerena. Published on July 16, 2026
Dow Jones Top Company Headlines at 9 PM ET: United Airlines Lifts Outlook as Higher Fares Blunt Turbulent Fuel Prices | SpaceX ...
United Airlines Lifts Outlook as Higher Fares Blunt Turbulent Fuel Prices The carrier said that adjusted earnings should hit $9 to $11 a share in 2026, lifting the low-end of its previous target by $2 a share. ---- SpaceX Shares Fall Below IPO Price for the First Time The rocket maker's stock slipped below $135 as the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped. ---- BHP Annual Copper Production Falls; Iron Ore Output Notches Record High BHP Group said it produced a record amount of iron ore but less copper over the past year, and forecast a further drop in copper output in the year ahead as grades fall at a giant mine in northern Chile. ---- QVC Defeats Shareholder Challenge to $5 Billion Debt-Cutting Plan A Houston bankruptcy judge approved a disputed intercompany settlement that clears the retail network to exit chapter 11. ---- J.B. Hunt Reports Higher Profit As Revenue Grows Across Most Segments The logistics company reported a profit of $181 million, with its largest business segment reporting a 22% increase in revenue and a 10% increase in volume. ---- Conagra's 'Show-Me' CEO Says Every Product Needs to Earn Its Keep John Brase, who took over the company in June, is plotting a turnaround for the food giant. ---- Mira Murati's AI Startup Releases First Model in Bid to Loosen AI Giants' Grip Thinking Machines Lab CEO Mira Murati is betting on more customizable artificial-intelligence models to chip away at the lead of frontier labs such OpenAI and Anthropic. ---- Kalshi to Offer Contracts Predicting Flight Cancellations The contracts will allow users to predict the percentages of flights canceled at an airport within a given timeframe. ---- Patrick Drahi's Altice International Accused of Debt Default Lenders holding about $9 billion in bonds claim Patrick Drahi's telecom empire stripped away collateral through intercompany deals, sources said. ---- Stripe and Private-Equity Firm Advent Offer to Buy PayPal The deal would value the fintech company at around $53 billion. ---- BlackRock Shares Rally After Assets Soar Past $15 Trillion BlackRock reported profits rose 20% from a year earlier, and shares rallied almost 7%. ---- Conagra Swings to Loss, Cuts Dividend Under New CEO The maker of Orville Redenbacher's popcorn and Slim Jim swung to a loss in the fiscal fourth quarter and cut its dividend, as its new chief executive aims to strengthen the company with a more conservative spending strategy. ---- JPMorgan, BlackRock and Goldman to Tokenize Stocks, Treasurys Trade processor DTCC is launching a trial run with Wall Street firms to convert assets into digital tokens. ---- Morgan Stanley Posts Blowout Quarter Thanks to Blockbuster IPOs, Newly Minted Millionaires The bank reported adjusted second-quarter earnings of $3.46 a share, blowing past Wall Street forecasts thanks to a surge in investment banking revenue. (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 15, 2026 21:15 ET (01:15 GMT) Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Why SpaceX shares fell below their IPO price for the first time
SpaceX shares slipped below their initial public offering (IPO) price for the first time on Wednesday, a little over a month after the company made history with the biggest IPO ever. The stock later recovered slightly and closed at $135.27, just above its IPO price of $135. During the day, however, it fell as low as $132.28. The drop marks a big change for the Elon Musk-led company, whose stock had surged after listing and briefly pushed its market value above $2.6 trillion, making Musk the world's first trillionaire. By Wednesday afternoon, the company's valuation had fallen to around $1.78 trillion. SpaceX shares fall below IPO price When SpaceX debuted on the stock market, investor excitement sent its shares soaring. At one point, the company was valued even higher than tech giants Microsoft and Amazon, despite both companies having much longer histories as public firms and stronger financial results. But that excitement has started to fade. SpaceX made history with the biggest IPO ever when it debuted on the stock market on June 12. On its first day of trading, the company's shares jumped 19%. The IPO was priced at $135 per share, while the stock opened at $150, about 11% higher than the offer price. Since then, however, the shares have slowly moved lower, even after being added to the Nasdaq-100 index. Wednesday's decline came as the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite also slipped about 0.2%, while technology stocks have remained volatile over the past month. Why did SpaceX shares fall? Several factors came together to pull SpaceX's shares lower. After the stock's strong rally following its record-breaking IPO, many investors chose to book profits, leading to increased selling. At the same time, some on Wall Street began questioning whether the company's valuation had become too high after it briefly crossed $2.6 trillion, especially since SpaceX reported a $4.9 billion loss last year and many of its long-term projects are still in the early stages. Investors are also growing cautious about the company's heavy spending on artificial intelligence after it raised $25 billion through bonds to fund new technology infrastructure. Concerns that the US Federal Reserve could raise interest rates have only added to the pressure on highly valued technology stocks. Even SpaceX's inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 failed to lift sentiment, with the stock falling about 13% since joining the index. Analysts also say there have been no major new developments to renew investor excitement, while the upcoming expiry of the IPO lock-up period could lead to more selling as employees and early investors become eligible to sell part of their holdings. Investors may be cashing out Justus Parmar, CEO of Fortuna Investments, which invests in SpaceX, believes one reason behind the recent weakness is that some investors are beginning to sell their shares and lock in profits. "I think the elephant in the room is there's a lot of folks that are in the stock, and maybe some of them, or a good number of them are wanting to take some liquidity, which is essentially putting a lot of pressure on the stock," Parmar told Reuters. He added: "You're probably seeing a little bit of it, and through the course of the year, we'll be seeing more of that." However, SpaceX is not the first major company to see its shares fall soon after going public. One example is British chip designer Arm Holdings, which also slipped below its $51 IPO price about a week after its much-talked-about market debut in 2023. However, the stock later recovered strongly. Data from University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter also shows that weak performance after an IPO is quite common. According to his research, more than 70% of companies that went public between 1974 and 2021 delivered negative returns over the next three years compared with their offer price. Still, the decline is likely to boost the argument of critics who believed SpaceX's valuation had become too expensive. The company reported a $4.9 billion loss last year, and many of its biggest long-term projects have yet to prove they can succeed. Nasdaq 100 inclusion fails to help SpaceX's entry into the Nasdaq 100 index also failed to lift the stock. Since joining the technology-heavy index, the company's shares have fallen by about 13%. Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, said investors have not seen any fresh developments that could renew confidence in the stock. "The fact that a stock has fallen a couple of dollars below its IPO price in itself is not a tragedy, but SpaceX is heavily watched and has an important role in investor psyche." Even though the stock has weakened, many Wall Street analysts remain optimistic about SpaceX's future. Morgan Stanley, one of the lead underwriters for the company's IPO, has set a 12-month price target of $300 for the stock. JPMorgan expects the shares to reach $225 by the end of 2027. Not everyone is as optimistic, though. Morningstar believes the stock is worth much less. Last month, the research firm said it values SpaceX shares at just $63. All eyes now on earnings and lock-up expiry Investors are now waiting for SpaceX's first earnings report since becoming a public company. Analysts expect the results to be released during the first week of August. Soon after that, the first phase of the IPO lock-up period will end. This will allow eligible employees and some early investors to start selling part of their holdings. Apart from financial results, investors are closely watching SpaceX's 13th Starship test flight. The successful development of Starship is considered important for the company's future plans. SpaceX hopes the rocket will lower launch costs and support ambitious projects such as orbital data centres and missions to the Moon. Disclaimer: This article provides factual analysis only and is not, and should not be construed as, an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell securities. Investors must conduct their own independent due diligence and seek advice from a registered financial advisor in the respective jurisdiction.
SpaceX Stock Falls Below IPO Price as Investors Weigh Losses and Lockup Expiry
SpaceX shares fell below their initial public offering (IPO) price for the first time on Wednesday, highlighting growing investor caution as the company's early post-listing momentum continues to fade. The stock dropped 2.2% to $133.02 during midday trading, slipping beneath its $135 IPO price set during last month's $86 billion public offering. The decline extends a volatile trading period for the Elon Musk-led aerospace company. After surging nearly 50% within its first three trading sessions, SpaceX stock has surrendered much of those gains as investors reassess the company's financial outlook and broader market conditions. Market participants are also watching the upcoming expiration of the first insider lockup period, which will occur after SpaceX releases its first quarterly earnings report as a publicly traded company. The end of these restrictions could increase selling pressure as early investors and company insiders become eligible to sell their shares. Investor sentiment weakened further after SpaceX disclosed a net loss of $4.9 billion for the previous year, raising concerns about the company's timeline for achieving sustained profitability. At the same time, uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy and slowing enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-related stocks, particularly semiconductor companies, have added pressure to high-growth technology names. Despite the recent pullback, SpaceX initially benefited from strong institutional demand following its rapid inclusion in major stock indexes. The company was added to the Russell 1000 Index shortly after its market debut and later joined the Nasdaq-100 after eligibility rules for newly listed large-cap companies were accelerated. Even with shares trading below their IPO price, Wall Street analysts remain optimistic about the company's long-term growth potential. Raymond James recently issued one of the most bullish forecasts on the stock, assigning an $800 price target and signaling confidence that SpaceX can recover as it expands its commercial space, satellite, and technology businesses.
SpaceX to deploy first Starlink V3 satellites on suborbital Starship-Super Heavy flight
SpaceX will debut its long-promised Starlink Version 3 satellites during a suborbital test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday evening. The Starship Flight 13 mission is the second launch of a third-generation Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle and the second mission for the program this year. Liftoff from Pad 2 at SpaceX's Starbase facilities in southern Texas is scheduled during a 90-minute window that opens at 5:45 p.m. CDT (6:45 p.m. EDT / 2245 UTC). Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about two hours prior to liftoff. SpaceX is launching this mission using Booster 20 and the Ship 40 upper stage. Both stages are flying for the first time and SpaceX will not attempt to recover either for reuse. One of the biggest differences between Flight 13 and Flight 12, which launched in May, is that this time around, SpaceX will be deploying 20 production Starlink V3 satellites. While they're not going into orbit, SpaceX does intend to briefly link them to the broader network in low Earth orbit. "As part of this initial test, Starship is planned to deploy 20 satellites which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers," SpaceX wrote prior to launch. "The Starlink satellites will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment." Other mission objectives are fairly similar to what was demonstrated in Flight 12. Those include a relight of a Raptor engine on the upper stage during the coast phase and performing a controlled landing of the booster in the Gulf of Mexico. Neither of those objectives were able to be accomplished back in May. SpaceX said the startup sequence of the engines on Ship 39 "caused the directional flip of the booster to be off by approximately 90 degrees." That coupled with issues with five out of 33 sea-level engines on the booster prevented a nominal boostback burn and Booster 19 was lost prematurely. "The Super Heavy on this upcoming flight has hardware modifications to improve re-light reliability along with updates to engine alarms and aborts to match the conditions seen in the multi-engine flight environment," the company wrote. In between these two flights of Starship Version 3, SpaceX said it also made "several hardware an operational modifications" to address issues that caused one of the three Raptor Vacuum engines to go offline less than a minute after stage separation. SpaceX is also continuing its heat shield iterative work in order to produce a protective system that will eventually allow for rapid reuse of the upper stage. "Multiple tiles will be attached to the metallic side of Starship's aft flaps along with modified tiles and attachment mechanisms in the heat shield covering the aft skirt to gather flight data on different attachment options," SpaceX said. "Finally, Starship's heat shield will have load sensing tiles to take measurements as the vehicle experiences higher dynamic pressure on ascent than previous flights, putting added stress on the tile attachments in exchange for increased payload to orbit capability." Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, told CNBC in an interview in June that the company may attempt to perform an orbital launch as soon as Flight 14, depending on how this next mission goes. She said a monthly launch cadence is the company's target. Rapid learning will be critical as NASA is relying on SpaceX to get Starship to orbit sooner rather than later. A modified version of a Starship Version 3 rocket with a docking adaptor is scheduled to fly next years part of the Artemis 3 mission. Unlike Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 Alpha spacecraft, the Artemis 3 crew will not enter into Starship on that flight, but rather NASA and SpaceX will focus on testing the interaction of these two vehicles when they dock. "Software testing between spacecrafts will help demonstrate that the commercial human landing system prototypes and Orion can meet at a precise time and location in space," NASA said in a press release on Wednesday. "When Orion docks with the Blue Moon test lander, the Orion spacecraft's software will control the docked spacecraft. Meanwhile, the SpaceX test article will control the docked spacecraft for the second portion of the mission." Flight 13 is also SpaceX's first mission for the Starship program since it became a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq. The company's new investors will be keenly watching the performance of the launcher and launch infrastructure as SpaceX hopes to begin deploying orbital payloads later this year.
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 21 communications satellites for the Space Development Agency
The Space Development Agency is set to launch its third batch of operational satellites designed to improve secure communications between members of the U.S. military and its allies across the globe aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from California. The SDA's constellation, the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), consists of a series of series of interconnected satellites with varying focuses, from missile tracking to navigation. The satellites launching on Thursday afternoon are part of the communications layer, referred to as the Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL). Liftoff of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for 1:32 p.m. PDT (4:32 p.m. EDT / 2032 UTC). Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff. SpaceX will launch the T1TL-E mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster B1103, making its fourth flight after previously launching Starlink 17-35, Starlink 17-42, and NROL-179. A little more than 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1103 will target a landing on the SpaceX droneship, 'Of Course I Still Love You', positioned in the Pacific Ocean. If successful, this will be the 211th landing on this vessel and the 639th booster landing to date for SpaceX. Building out the Transport Layer There will be 154 operational satellites spread across the various layers of the Tranche 1 portion of SDA's PWSA constellation. That breaks down to the following, according the SDA: * 126 Transport Layer satellites * 28 Tracking Layer satellites * 4 missile defense demonstration satellites These satellites will be managed from Space Operations Centers located at the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. The SDA awarded satellite construction contracts to Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman Strategic Space Systems and York Space Systems in February 2022 to build the satellites for the T1TL portion of the constellation. The first 21 T1TL satellites from York Space Systems launched on the T1TL-B mission on Sept. 10, 2025. That was followed by the T1TL-C mission a month later with satellites from Lockheed Martin. In a September 2025 statement to Spaceflight Now, Col. Ryan Hiserote, the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command's (SSC) division chief in System Delta 80 Assured Access to Space, said that the order of the first three missions for the SDA's T1TL were "interchangeable" and didn't need to fly in alphabetical order. "York was the first of the Tranche 1 performers to ship and launch its satellites. All spacecraft from York's first production lot were confirmed healthy within hours of launch separation, and the constellation has since passed numerous milestones as it continues through early operations," the company said in a June 5 press release. "With this second production lot, York is again first among Tranche 1 primes to complete T1 spacecraft production, continuing to demonstrate the high-rate production capabilities required to support proliferated space architectures. Upon full delivery, York's first and second production lots represent more than 40 spacecraft developed in support of the proliferated mission." Launch of the T1TL-E mission was awarded to SpaceX as part of fourth order year of missions within the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 contract, which is managed by Space Systems Command. Announced in June 2023, T1TL-E was one of six missions awarded to SpaceX. When awarded, these missions were scheduled to launch in fiscal year 2025. However, as happens with a number of NSSL missions, the payloads can be years behind schedule. The February 2022 press release from the SDA announcing the awards for the T1TL missions stated that these satellites should be "ready for launch by September 2024." However, the first batch didn't fly until a year later. Spaceflight Now reached out to SSC to learn more about why none of the satellites manufactured by Northrop Grumman have launched to date but we did not receive a response before publishing this article.
SpaceX reveals AI1 orbital data center design for satellite network
The AI1 satellite's 70-meter wingspan and 150 kW compute payload could reshape how the world thinks about AI infrastructure. SpaceX unveiled its AI1 orbital data center satellite in a video around June 9, 2026, laying out a vision for AI computation that skips terrestrial infrastructure entirely. The satellite is designed for sun-synchronous orbit, powered by solar arrays, cooled by passive radiation, and connected to the rest of the world through laser links to the existing Starlink constellation. The headline specs are striking. The AI1 has a 70-meter wingspan, a deployed height of 20 meters, and a peak compute payload capacity of 150 kW. Elon Musk noted that one AI1 satellite's power output is roughly equivalent to one Nvidia GB300 rack. Simpler than Starlink, bigger ambitions Musk pointed out that AI1 manufacturing drops the phased-array antennas that make Starlink satellites complex to produce. What's left is solar cells, radiators, and laser links. In January 2026, SpaceX filed with the FCC proposing a constellation of up to one million AI1 satellites. To support that manufacturing ambition, the company is building a Gigasat factory in Bastrop, Texas. Initial AI1 satellite launches are targeted for late 2027, though SpaceX plans to deploy compute payloads on select existing Starlink satellites before the dedicated AI1 fleet is ready. The AI1 operates at roughly 70 kW per ton at approximately 600 km altitude. Passive radiative cooling in the vacuum of space sidesteps one of the thorniest problems facing ground-based data centers: heat. On Earth, cooling a hyperscale data center can consume a significant portion of its total energy budget. In orbit, you radiate heat directly into space. The terrestrial data center problem this is solving SpaceX is explicitly pitching AI1 as a way to sidestep land use, power grid, water cooling, and permitting constraints that face terrestrial data centers. The laser link architecture routes data through the Starlink constellation rather than requiring dedicated ground stations at every customer site. Hardware refresh cycles are a known challenge: you can't easily send a technician to swap out a GPU at 600 km altitude. Whatever compute is on that satellite has to last, or the economics of the whole system deteriorate quickly. What investors should watch The AI1 announcement lands at an interesting moment for SpaceX's corporate trajectory. The company has been preparing for an IPO, and orbital data centers represent a differentiated, high-margin business category. Starlink's connectivity business is already profitable; AI compute-as-a-service from orbit would be an entirely new revenue category. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have all committed to multi-hundred-billion-dollar terrestrial data center buildouts over the next several years. The late 2027 launch timeline gives the market roughly 18 months to decide how seriously to price this possibility.
Inside The SpaceX AI1 Orbital Data Center: Can It Compete With Terrestrial? Here's The Full Math
Last December, when SpaceX's plan to IPO was still a distant vision (amid rumors of a valuation of "only" $800BN, or less than half where the company finally landed), we laid out a blueprint of what data centers in space would look like, and also recommended a handful of public companies for those who wanted to invest in this theme. Fast forward nearly 7 months later when, with SPCX now public (if briefly dipping below its IPO price earlier today), we refresh on the sector and the cost model, and share some further analysis around optical/lasers, spectrum, solar, radiator, and compute density. Additionally, we use the latest Deutsche Bank research on SpaceX (available to pro subs) to factor in the latest thoughts and disclosures from the Musk regarding its AI1 satellite and Starmind constellation.
SpaceX shares drop below IPO price for first time as blistering rally unravels
SpaceX shares dropped below their initial public offering price for the first time on Wednesday before closing just above that level, just over a month after the rockets-to-AI firm completed the biggest IPO ever and made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire. The shares slid 0.6% to close at $135.27, after falling as low as $132.28 -- below the $135 IPO price and well below last month's high that briefly propelled the company's market valuation above those of tech giants Microsoft and Amazon, firms with longer public track records and stronger financial results. It is the latest reminder that Wall Street's enthusiasm can cool quickly, even for a company whose vast ambitions and Musk backing briefly helped it fetch a valuation above $2.6 trillion last month, compared with $1.78 trillion on Wednesday afternoon. "I think the elephant in the room is there's a lot of folks that are in the stock and maybe some of them or a good number of them are wanting to take some liquidity, which is essentially putting a lot of pressure on the stock," said Justus Parmar, CEO of SpaceX investor Fortuna Investments. "You're probably seeing a little bit of it and through the course of the year, we'll be seeing more of that." Debt concerns The about-face in SpaceX reflects in part investor concern over debt-funded AI spending and what potential Federal Reserve rate hikes might do to stretched tech valuations. SpaceX turned to the bond market last month to raise $25 billion, becoming the latest tech giant to sell bonds to build out costly technology infrastructure whose return prospects are hotly debated on Wall Street. The stock's retreat "seems to be a combination of profit-taking, valuation reassessment and the unwinding of extremely bullish positioning following one of the most anticipated listings in recent years," said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com. It is not uncommon for a stock to fall below the IPO price, especially during periods of broader market stress. Still, the drop could bolster critics who have argued that SpaceX's valuation was stretched, given that it lost $4.9 billion last year and many of its ambitions are untested. Nasdaq inclusion fails to lift shares "There hasn't been anything lately to remind people of some of the catalysts for why they bought SpaceX," said Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers. "The fact that a stock has fallen a couple of dollars below its IPO price in itself is not a tragedy, but SpaceX is heavily watched and has an important role in investor psyche." The stock's addition to indexes such as the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 didn't reverse the retreat. SpaceX's shares have dropped some 13% since they were included in the Nasdaq 100. Investor focus will shift to the company's first results after listing. Analysts expect the report to happen in the first week of August. After the report, the first phase of the IPO lock-up period is set to expire, allowing eligible employees and some early shareholders to begin selling portions of their holdings, an event that analysts say could weigh further on the stock. Investors are also closely watching the company's 13th Starship test flight as the rocket's successful development is critical to lowering launch costs and enabling many of its most ambitious long-term projects, including orbital data centers and lunar missions. "We're really on maybe 30 days or so into this experiment, still so very early," said Parmar. "The big thing is Elon got his $85 billion to take SpaceX to the next level of growth, which will take many years to see how that plays out. Not 30 days of trading."
Starship to fly again Texas. Why the launch is critical for SpaceX
SpaceX has big plans for Starship during its 13th test flight from South Texas as the pressure is on for the rocket to be ready for missions to the moon and Mars. For just the second time in 2026, SpaceX is preparing to launch the world's largest rocket. Starship, the commercial spaceflight company's super heavy-lift launch vehicle, is due to get off the ground in South Texas on the heels of a largely successful May flight test. And as usual, the stakes are high for SpaceX and its chief executive, tech mogul Elon Musk. The upcoming flight will be the 13th for Starship overall, including its April 2023 debut, and the second for SpaceX's new prototype that serves as the largest iteration of the rocket to date. The pressure is on for SpaceX, which is working under a strict deadline to have Starship ready for NASA's fast-approaching moon landing missions. Musk, of course, also still dreams of sending the rocket on interplanetary voyages to Mars. Here's everything to know about the next Starship launch, which SpaceX refers to as flight 13. When is the next Starship launch date? SpaceX is working toward a Thursday, July 16, launch of its Starship rocket, the company announced. The launch window is due to open from 5:45 to 7:15 p.m. CT. Where does Starship launch? As it has since its maiden launch in April 2023, Starship will once again get off the ground from SpaceX's Starbase company town and headquarters in South Texas, about 180 miles south of Corpus Christi. In May 2025, Texas voters in Cameron County - most of whom are SpaceX employees - approved a measure to officially recognize the company's headquarters as its own town, complete with a mayor and city commissioners. What is Starship? Starship is the massive rocket that SpaceX, the commercial company founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been testing since April 2023. SpaceX is developing the rocket to be a fully reusable transportation system that can carry huge satellites and other payloads to space, meaning both the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions. How tall is Starship? Is it the world's largest rocket? Starship's most recent flight test in May marked the debut of SpaceX's third-generation prototype of the rocket. Standing at 407 feet tall when fully stacked, the new iteration of Starship - known as Version 3, or V3 - became the largest and most powerful rocket SpaceX has ever launched. Similar to previous designs, the fully integrated Starship spacecraft is composed of both a 236-feet-tall lower-stage booster known as Super Heavy, as well as a 171-feet-tall upper stage simply called Starship. What is SpaceX planning for flight 13? For the next Starship test flight, SpaceX said it is aiming to complete similar objectives as the last launch in May in which it debuted its Version 3 prototype. SpaceX plans to push the performance of the Super Heavy booster - responsible for the initial burst of thrust at liftoff - before it lands in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed in the U.S. under executive order as the Gulf of America. The upper stage, which is designed to eventually fly in orbit, will also be put to the test as it flies halfway around the world ahead of a landing in the Indian Ocean. Starship to carry Starlink satellites to space In a major first, Starship will be carrying 20 larger versions of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites that it will attempt to deliver into suborbital space. The satellites will deploy solar arrays and antennas while attempeting to connect with SpaceX's larger Starlink constellation higher up in orbit before they fall toward the ground and burn up in the atmosphere about 20 minutes later. If this sounds familiar, that's because SpaceX has deployed mock Starlink satellites during previous Starship flight tests. Why is SpaceX testing Starship? Elon Musk envisions colony on Mars Musk's vision has long been for Starship to be an interplanetary vehicle that takes humans to Mars, where they can establish a self-sustaining colony. While the world's richest man has indicated that SpaceX will focus on building a lunar city first, the company has already announced a human-led expedition to Mars' orbit - though it has not set a target date. In order for that to be possible, Starship will need to be capable of refueling midflight in a complex process that requires two Starships equipped with docking adapters to meet in orbit to transfer propellant. The maneuver is one SpaceX has yet to test. NASA relies on Starship for Artemis moon missions SpaceX is also under contract with NASA to develop a lunar lander configuration of its Starship to ferry astronauts to the moon, known as the Human Landing System. NASA is relying on Starship to be ready for a mission due in 2027 known as Artemis III. SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are competing to develop lunar landers for future crewed and uncrewed Artemis missions, both of which will be tested first in Earth orbit during the crewed Artemis III mission. See photos of Starship rocket launches What happened on the last Starship flight test in May? During Starship's last flight test on May 22, the booster helped propel the upper stage on its journey before it made a water landing in the Gulf Coast. The upper stage, sometimes referred to simply as 'Ship, then used its own six Raptor engines to fly halfway around the world before landing and exploding as expected in the Indian Ocean. Along the way, Starship succeeded in deploying 20 mock versions of SpaceX's Starlink satellites and two modified satellites that, in a major first, imaged Starship while it climbed into space. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]
Every SpaceX Starlink satellite has to dodge a collision almost weekly, and experts fear the worst
Experts warn that the rapid growth of satellite constellations, such as Starlink, and the overall increase in operational spacecraft in orbit pose a risk of collisions that may become unmanageable in the future. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX's Starlink satellites made over 355,000 collision avoidance maneuvers throughout the past year, with each satellite now dodging debris and other spacecraft on an almost weekly basis. The numbers are based on disclosures made by SpaceX in its latest semiannual report to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). According to the latest report, Starlink satellites performed an overall 207,152 avoidance maneuvers between December 2025 and May 2026, up nearly 60,000 from the 148,696 reported in the previous half year. That brings the yearly total to over 355,000, more than three times as many as the constellation performed in 2024. On average, each Starlink satellite performed more than 40 space dodging maneuvers per year between June 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026. Experts fear the situation might soon get out of hand. "I think we're heading towards a situation where there will be a collision involving an operational satellite in the constellation," Hugh Lewis, a space sustainability expert and professor of astronautics at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., told Space.com. "And it will not be for the lack of trying to avoid those things. It will be in spite of all those maneuvers." The increase coincides with the growth of the internet-beaming constellation and the overall number of satellites in space in the past five years. Starlink grew from about 6,000 satellites in 2024 to more than 10,000 as of June 2026. Over the same time period, the overall number of operational spacecraft in orbit rose from around 10,000 to about 16,000. The SpaceX constellation orbits at altitudes between 298 miles (480 km) and 342 miles (550 kilometers) and uses an autonomous collision avoidance system that initiates a maneuver when the probability of a collision appears higher than 3 in 10 million. Lewis says that although SpaceX is "doing an excellent job" managing orbital traffic, the steep growth cannot continue without risks. "The avoidance maneuvers reduce the probability of a collision to about one in a million, which is so small that it's negligible," Lewis said. "The problem is that if you make a million maneuvers and you have a residual probability of one in a million, you end up with an aggregate risk across your entire constellation that you can't get rid of." Lewis points out that with the expected continued rise in avoidance maneuvers (SpaceX has applied to the FCC to increase the size of its constellation to 100,000 satellites), SpaceX will have made a million avoidance maneuvers over the lifetime of the Starlink constellation as early as June 2027. By 2030, the constellation may be making more than a million maneuvers every year. At that point, the one in a million risk of a collision may no longer be negligible at all. Tommaso Sgobba, the Director of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety, told Space.com that the increase in collision avoidance maneuvers is a predictable certainty. "The more satellites you pack into [an orbital] shell, the more pairs of satellites exist that could potentially cross paths," Sgobba wrote in an email. "Adding satellites does not just add risk one unit at a time, it multiplies the number of possible pairings. Double the satellites in a shell and you roughly quadruple the number of pairs that need to be watched." Sgobba also said that the collision probabilities predicted are highly inaccurate as the effects of air drag, which change frequently with space weather, are currently impossible to predict. He said that due to the vast uncertainties in satellite trajectory predictions "operators lack tools to tell a real threat from statistical confusion," adding that "satellites are frequently dodging ghosts, burning fuel and shortening their operational lives in the process." SpaceX, being the largest constellation currently in orbit, takes the bulk of responsibilities for orbital maneuvering. Instead of communicating with the other operator to decide who will make the dodge, Starlink satellites automatically avoid other objects -- both space debris fragments or operational satellites -- whenever there is a conjunction alert. Other ambitious constellations, such as Amazon LEO or China's Thousand Sails, or Qianfan, are currently being deployed, actively adding to the high number of satellites operating in low Earth orbit. Lewis said that the only way to safely manage multiple constellations is to make sure their orbits do not intersect. That, however, is not the case based on available information. The Thousand Sails constellation, in particular, is expected to occupy similar regions as Starlink. Many of the recently announced orbital data center projects want to launch into particular orbital regions that are convenient for their operations and are therefore likely to overlap. "The safe thing to do is to separate the constellations," Lewis said. "But then you are talking about orbital carrying capacity and the first mover benefit, because if I go into a particular altitude with my constellation, then nobody else can use it." Sgobba calls for predicted numbers of collision avoidance maneuvers based on satellite numbers to be mandatorily disclosed to regulators before applications are granted. "Right now, there is no clear requirement for a company to say, before launch, how many collision avoidance maneuvers a constellation of this size and density will need every year and whether the satellites carry enough fuel and automation to actually perform them all," Sgobba wrote. "In short, the crowding of orbit is not an accident waiting to happen. It is a manageable, predictable engineering workload and the argument worth making publicly is that regulators should be treating it that way, by asking for these numbers up front rather than reacting to headlines about near misses after the fact."
Scottish Mortgage: Broker warns on SpaceX concentration
Canaccord Genuity (TSX:CF, LSE:CF) has initiated coverage of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC (LSE:SMT) with a 'hold' rating, warning that SpaceX now dominates the portfolio to an uncomfortable degree. Analyst Iain Scouller said the rocket company accounted for 28% of net assets at 30 June, once the trust's 8% balance sheet leverage is taken into account. He suggested investors who now view their holding as outsized after strong share price gains could top-slice their positions. The shares trade at 1446p against a net asset value of 1538p, a discount of about 6%. Canaccord thinks a discount of 5% to 10% is reasonable given the risk and reward attached to private companies and the potential volatility from the large SpaceX position. The trust has performed strongly, with the share price up 38% and net asset value up 36% over the year to 13 July. SpaceX contributed 14.9% to absolute performance over the year to 31 March, just over half the 27.4% net asset value return. Its valuation rose by £1.91 billion to £2.98 billion, equivalent to 79% of the £2.43 billion total increase in fair value across the private portfolio. Almost all of that gain remains unrealised. The realised gain over the year was just £0.8 million. Beneath the SpaceX number, the private portfolio was mixed, with 21 investments falling in value and only 14 rising. Scouller scored the trust's 126-page accounts eight out of 10, praising improved disclosure on unlisted holdings following a Financial Reporting Council thematic review. He would like to see a vintage year breakdown for private investments, more detail in regulatory announcements when valuations change, and industry classifications for each holding. SpaceX is currently classified as an industrial rather than a technology company, which helped lift the industrials weighting to 29% from 17%. Canaccord noted the trust applies a typical 10% illiquidity discount to unlisted valuations, and a further 10% for execution risk where a transaction has yet to close. The cost of debt is low at 3.6%, up from 3.1%, helped by long-dated debentures issued in 2020 and 2021 at rates below 3%. Gearing fell to 11% of net asset value from 13%. Scottish Mortgage spent £3.1 billion buying back 318.6 million shares, or 22% of share capital, over the two years to 15 March 2026. The board has reviewed the fee structure and rejected a performance fee, with the ongoing charge ratio at 0.33% of net assets.
Elon Musk promises 'no exceptions' after Sam Altman's one word response on xAI's Grok 'uploading' customer code to its own servers
Elon Musk has promised total transparency after a security researcher revealed that xAI's coding assistant, Grok Build, was secretly uploading entire private customer code repositories to a company-controlled Google Cloud storage bucket. In response, the billionaire promised to make the entire codebase of X (formerly Twitter) open source with "no exceptions". Musk's push for absolute transparency follows a sharp online critique from rival OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who publicly labeled the data privacy issue as "concerning"."Once we have completed our review for security vulnerabilities, we will make the entire codebase of 𝕏 open source, with no exceptions," Musk said in the post. "Moreover, we will invite third party reviewers to examine the system that is running to confirm that the open source code is what is running. Trust through total transparency is the only thing that should be believed," he added.The controversy erupted over the weekend when a security researcher discovered that xAI's tool was harvesting vastly more information than was actually required to answer standard coding requests. In one extreme test, as per a report by Axios, Grok Build uploaded a massive 5.1GB of data for a task that only needed 192KB, essentially collecting up to roughly 26,000 times more data than necessary.Security experts warn that this excessive data grab likely scooped up proprietary source code, private database passwords, API keys and cloud credentials. The breach quickly caught the attention of OpenAI's Sam Altman, who posted a blunt, one-word response on X calling the situation: "Concerning". In a separate post, Altman added that the incident was "a reason to favor open-source harnesses".Shortly after the security researcher published the findings, the uploads stopped without users needing to download a software patch, indicating that xAI had quickly shut down the system from its end.xAI released an official statement on Monday claiming that "no trace and code data is ever retained" for enterprise customers who hold strict zero-data-retention agreements.Furthermore, Musk announced a total purge of the collected information to pacify outraged developers. "As a precautionary measure, all user data that was uploaded to SpaceXAI before now will be completely and utterly deleted. Zero anything whatsoever will remain," Musk stated.
Terrafab is 'critical' to SpaceX's valuation and future, Oppenheimer says (SPCX:NASDAQ) | Seeking Alpha
Since it was first announced, there has been much ink spilled on the Terafab project between SpaceX (SPCX) and Tesla (TSLA). Now, Oppenheimer believes the semiconductor project is "critical" to the valuation -- and future -- of SpaceX. "In typical SPCX fashion, the pitch is The Terafab project enables supply independence, scaling of AI capabilities, and positions SpaceX as the only vertically integrated AI company, which is central to its AI growth story and potential market dominance. Terafab faces complexity in building fabs, workforce expansion needs, high equipment costs, limited fab experience at Tesla, and potential execution risks due to the speculative nature and dependency on Intel's technology. The co-funding of Terafab by SpaceX and Tesla could set the stage for a future merger between the two companies according to some analysts.
What SpaceX's Starship flight 13 test means for Florida's Space Coast
SpaceX has big plans for Starship during its 13th test flight from South Texas as the pressure is on for the rocket to be ready for missions to the moon and Mars. For just the second time in 2026, SpaceX is preparing to launch the world's largest rocket. Starship, the commercial spaceflight company's super heavy-lift launch vehicle, is due to get off the ground in South Texas on the heels of a largely successful May flight test. And as usual, the stakes are high for SpaceX and its chief executive, tech mogul Elon Musk. The upcoming flight will be the 13th for Starship overall, including its April 2023 debut, and the second for SpaceX's new prototype that serves as the largest iteration of the rocket to date. The pressure is on for SpaceX, which is working under a strict deadline to have Starship ready for NASA's fast-approaching moon landing missions. Musk, of course, also still dreams of sending the rocket on interplanetary voyages to Mars. The latest flight test also comes as SpaceX continues preparations to bring Starship to Florida's Space Coast. Here's everything to know about the next Starship launch, which SpaceX refers to as flight 13, as well as the latest on plans for its maiden flight in Florida. When is the next Starship launch date? SpaceX is working toward a Thursday, July 16, launch of its Starship rocket, the company announced. The launch window is due to open from 6:45 to 8:15 p.m. ET. Where does Starship launch? As it has since its maiden launch in April 2023, Starship will once again get off the ground from SpaceX's Starbase company town and headquarters in South Texas. Starbase is located close to the U.S.-Mexico border near the well-known Boca Chica Beach. In May 2025, Texas voters in Cameron County - most of whom are SpaceX employees - approved a measure to officially recognize the company's headquarters as its own town, complete with a mayor and city commissioners. What is Starship? Starship is the massive rocket that SpaceX, the commercial company founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been testing since April 2023. SpaceX is developing the rocket to be a fully reusable transportation system that can carry huge satellites and other payloads to space, meaning both the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions. How tall is Starship? Is it the world's largest rocket? Starship's most recent flight test in May marked the debut of SpaceX's third-generation prototype of the rocket. Standing at 407 feet tall when fully stacked, the new iteration of Starship - known as Version 3, or V3 - became the largest and most powerful rocket SpaceX has ever launched. Similar to previous designs, the fully integrated Starship spacecraft is composed of both a 236-feet-tall lower-stage booster known as Super Heavy, as well as a 171-feet-tall upper stage simply called Starship. What is SpaceX planning for flight 13? For the next Starship test flight, SpaceX said it is aiming to complete similar objectives as the last launch in May in which it debuted its Version 3 prototype. SpaceX plans to push the performance of the Super Heavy booster - responsible for the initial burst of thrust at liftoff - before it lands in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed in the U.S. under executive order as the Gulf of America. The upper stage, which is designed to eventually fly in orbit, will also be put to the test as it flies halfway around the world ahead of a landing in the Indian Ocean. Starship to carry Starlink satellites to space In a major first, Starship will be carrying 20 larger versions of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites that it will attempt to deliver into suborbital space. The satellites will deploy solar arrays and antennas while attempeting to connect with SpaceX's larger Starlink constellation higher up in orbit before they fall toward the ground and burn up in the atmosphere about 20 minutes later. If this sounds familiar, that's because SpaceX has deployed mock Starlink satellites during previous Starship flight tests. Why is SpaceX testing Starship? Elon Musk envisions colony on Mars Musk's vision has long been for Starship to be an interplanetary vehicle that takes humans to Mars, where they can establish a self-sustaining colony. While the world's richest man has indicated that SpaceX will focus on building a lunar city first, the company has already announced a human-led expedition to Mars' orbit - though it has not set a target date. In order for that to be possible, Starship will need to be capable of refueling midflight in a complex process that requires two Starships equipped with docking adapters to meet in orbit to transfer propellant. The maneuver is one SpaceX has yet to test. When could Starship launch in Florida? Florida's first landmark Starship launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center could also take flight in 2026 in late summer or early fall, according to the U.S. Space Force. Plans to get the rocket off the ground from the Sunshine State come as SpaceX continues to ready longterm launch and landing operations at not only Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A, but Launch Complex 37 at the neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Super Heavy boosters could begin arriving on SpaceX's drone barge You'll Thank Me Later in the coming months. And at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Gigabay - an enormous Starship maintenance facility - is rising beam-by-beam off Roberts Road. NASA relies on Starship for Artemis moon missions SpaceX is also under contract with NASA to develop a lunar lander configuration of its Starship to ferry astronauts to the moon, known as the Human Landing System. NASA is relying on Starship to be ready for a mission due in 2027 known as Artemis III. SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are competing to develop lunar landers for future crewed and uncrewed Artemis missions, both of which will be tested first in Earth orbit during the crewed Artemis III mission. See photos of Starship rocket launches What happened on the last Starship flight test in May? During Starship's last flight test on May 22, the booster helped propel the upper stage on its journey before it made a water landing in the Gulf Coast. The upper stage, sometimes referred to simply as 'Ship, then used its own six Raptor engines to fly halfway around the world before landing and exploding as expected in the Indian Ocean. Along the way, Starship succeeded in deploying 20 mock versions of SpaceX's Starlink satellites and two modified satellites that, in a major first, imaged Starship while it climbed into space. Contributing: Rick Neale, Brooke Edwards, Florida Today Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]. Subscribe to the free Florida TODAY newsletter.
What SpaceX's Starship flight 13 test means for Florida's Space Coast
SpaceX has big plans for Starship during its 13th test flight from South Texas as the pressure is on for the rocket to be ready for missions to the moon and Mars. For just the second time in 2026, SpaceX is preparing to launch the world's largest rocket. Starship, the commercial spaceflight company's super heavy-lift launch vehicle, is due to get off the ground in South Texas on the heels of a largely successful May flight test. And as usual, the stakes are high for SpaceX and its chief executive, tech mogul Elon Musk. The upcoming flight will be the 13th for Starship overall, including its April 2023 debut, and the second for SpaceX's new prototype that serves as the largest iteration of the rocket to date. The pressure is on for SpaceX, which is working under a strict deadline to have Starship ready for NASA's fast-approaching moon landing missions. Musk, of course, also still dreams of sending the rocket on interplanetary voyages to Mars. The latest flight test also comes as SpaceX continues preparations to bring Starship to Florida's Space Coast. Here's everything to know about the next Starship launch, which SpaceX refers to as flight 13, as well as the latest on plans for its maiden flight in Florida. When is the next Starship launch date? SpaceX is working toward a Thursday, July 16, launch of its Starship rocket, the company announced. The launch window is due to open from 6:45 to 8:15 p.m. ET. Where does Starship launch? As it has since its maiden launch in April 2023, Starship will once again get off the ground from SpaceX's Starbase company town and headquarters in South Texas. Starbase is located close to the U.S.-Mexico border near the well-known Boca Chica Beach. In May 2025, Texas voters in Cameron County - most of whom are SpaceX employees - approved a measure to officially recognize the company's headquarters as its own town, complete with a mayor and city commissioners. What is Starship? Starship is the massive rocket that SpaceX, the commercial company founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been testing since April 2023. SpaceX is developing the rocket to be a fully reusable transportation system that can carry huge satellites and other payloads to space, meaning both the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions. How tall is Starship? Is it the world's largest rocket? Starship's most recent flight test in May marked the debut of SpaceX's third-generation prototype of the rocket. Standing at 407 feet tall when fully stacked, the new iteration of Starship - known as Version 3, or V3 - became the largest and most powerful rocket SpaceX has ever launched. Similar to previous designs, the fully integrated Starship spacecraft is composed of both a 236-feet-tall lower-stage booster known as Super Heavy, as well as a 171-feet-tall upper stage simply called Starship. What is SpaceX planning for flight 13? For the next Starship test flight, SpaceX said it is aiming to complete similar objectives as the last launch in May in which it debuted its Version 3 prototype. SpaceX plans to push the performance of the Super Heavy booster - responsible for the initial burst of thrust at liftoff - before it lands in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed in the U.S. under executive order as the Gulf of America. The upper stage, which is designed to eventually fly in orbit, will also be put to the test as it flies halfway around the world ahead of a landing in the Indian Ocean. Starship to carry Starlink satellites to space In a major first, Starship will be carrying 20 larger versions of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites that it will attempt to deliver into suborbital space. The satellites will deploy solar arrays and antennas while attempeting to connect with SpaceX's larger Starlink constellation higher up in orbit before they fall toward the ground and burn up in the atmosphere about 20 minutes later. If this sounds familiar, that's because SpaceX has deployed mock Starlink satellites during previous Starship flight tests. Why is SpaceX testing Starship? Elon Musk envisions colony on Mars Musk's vision has long been for Starship to be an interplanetary vehicle that takes humans to Mars, where they can establish a self-sustaining colony. While the world's richest man has indicated that SpaceX will focus on building a lunar city first, the company has already announced a human-led expedition to Mars' orbit - though it has not set a target date. In order for that to be possible, Starship will need to be capable of refueling midflight in a complex process that requires two Starships equipped with docking adapters to meet in orbit to transfer propellant. The maneuver is one SpaceX has yet to test. When could Starship launch in Florida? Florida's first landmark Starship launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center could also take flight in 2026 in late summer or early fall, according to the U.S. Space Force. Plans to get the rocket off the ground from the Sunshine State come as SpaceX continues to ready longterm launch and landing operations at not only Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A, but Launch Complex 37 at the neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Super Heavy boosters could begin arriving on SpaceX's drone barge You'll Thank Me Later in the coming months. And at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Gigabay - an enormous Starship maintenance facility - is rising beam-by-beam off Roberts Road. NASA relies on Starship for Artemis moon missions SpaceX is also under contract with NASA to develop a lunar lander configuration of its Starship to ferry astronauts to the moon, known as the Human Landing System. NASA is relying on Starship to be ready for a mission due in 2027 known as Artemis III. SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are competing to develop lunar landers for future crewed and uncrewed Artemis missions, both of which will be tested first in Earth orbit during the crewed Artemis III mission. See photos of Starship rocket launches What happened on the last Starship flight test in May? During Starship's last flight test on May 22, the booster helped propel the upper stage on its journey before it made a water landing in the Gulf Coast. The upper stage, sometimes referred to simply as 'Ship, then used its own six Raptor engines to fly halfway around the world before landing and exploding as expected in the Indian Ocean. Along the way, Starship succeeded in deploying 20 mock versions of SpaceX's Starlink satellites and two modified satellites that, in a major first, imaged Starship while it climbed into space. Contributing: Rick Neale, Brooke Edwards, Florida Today Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]. Subscribe to the free Florida TODAY newsletter.
What SpaceX's Starship flight 13 test means for Florida's Space Coast
SpaceX has big plans for Starship during its 13th test flight from South Texas as the pressure is on for the rocket to be ready for missions to the moon and Mars. For just the second time in 2026, SpaceX is preparing to launch the world's largest rocket. Starship, the commercial spaceflight company's super heavy-lift launch vehicle, is due to get off the ground in South Texas on the heels of a largely successful May flight test. And as usual, the stakes are high for SpaceX and its chief executive, tech mogul Elon Musk. The upcoming flight will be the 13th for Starship overall, including its April 2023 debut, and the second for SpaceX's new prototype that serves as the largest iteration of the rocket to date. The pressure is on for SpaceX, which is working under a strict deadline to have Starship ready for NASA's fast-approaching moon landing missions. Musk, of course, also still dreams of sending the rocket on interplanetary voyages to Mars. The latest flight test also comes as SpaceX continues preparations to bring Starship to Florida's Space Coast. Here's everything to know about the next Starship launch, which SpaceX refers to as flight 13, as well as the latest on plans for its maiden flight in Florida. When is the next Starship launch date? SpaceX is working toward a Thursday, July 16, launch of its Starship rocket, the company announced. The launch window is due to open from 6:45 to 8:15 p.m. ET. Where does Starship launch? As it has since its maiden launch in April 2023, Starship will once again get off the ground from SpaceX's Starbase company town and headquarters in South Texas. Starbase is located close to the U.S.-Mexico border near the well-known Boca Chica Beach. In May 2025, Texas voters in Cameron County - most of whom are SpaceX employees - approved a measure to officially recognize the company's headquarters as its own town, complete with a mayor and city commissioners. What is Starship? Starship is the massive rocket that SpaceX, the commercial company founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been testing since April 2023. SpaceX is developing the rocket to be a fully reusable transportation system that can carry huge satellites and other payloads to space, meaning both the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions. How tall is Starship? Is it the world's largest rocket? Starship's most recent flight test in May marked the debut of SpaceX's third-generation prototype of the rocket. Standing at 407 feet tall when fully stacked, the new iteration of Starship - known as Version 3, or V3 - became the largest and most powerful rocket SpaceX has ever launched. Similar to previous designs, the fully integrated Starship spacecraft is composed of both a 236-feet-tall lower-stage booster known as Super Heavy, as well as a 171-feet-tall upper stage simply called Starship. What is SpaceX planning for flight 13? For the next Starship test flight, SpaceX said it is aiming to complete similar objectives as the last launch in May in which it debuted its Version 3 prototype. SpaceX plans to push the performance of the Super Heavy booster - responsible for the initial burst of thrust at liftoff - before it lands in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed in the U.S. under executive order as the Gulf of America. The upper stage, which is designed to eventually fly in orbit, will also be put to the test as it flies halfway around the world ahead of a landing in the Indian Ocean. Starship to carry Starlink satellites to space In a major first, Starship will be carrying 20 larger versions of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites that it will attempt to deliver into suborbital space. The satellites will deploy solar arrays and antennas while attempeting to connect with SpaceX's larger Starlink constellation higher up in orbit before they fall toward the ground and burn up in the atmosphere about 20 minutes later. If this sounds familiar, that's because SpaceX has deployed mock Starlink satellites during previous Starship flight tests. Why is SpaceX testing Starship? Elon Musk envisions colony on Mars Musk's vision has long been for Starship to be an interplanetary vehicle that takes humans to Mars, where they can establish a self-sustaining colony. While the world's richest man has indicated that SpaceX will focus on building a lunar city first, the company has already announced a human-led expedition to Mars' orbit - though it has not set a target date. In order for that to be possible, Starship will need to be capable of refueling midflight in a complex process that requires two Starships equipped with docking adapters to meet in orbit to transfer propellant. The maneuver is one SpaceX has yet to test. When could Starship launch in Florida? Florida's first landmark Starship launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center could also take flight in 2026 in late summer or early fall, according to the U.S. Space Force. Plans to get the rocket off the ground from the Sunshine State come as SpaceX continues to ready longterm launch and landing operations at not only Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A, but Launch Complex 37 at the neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Super Heavy boosters could begin arriving on SpaceX's drone barge You'll Thank Me Later in the coming months. And at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Gigabay - an enormous Starship maintenance facility - is rising beam-by-beam off Roberts Road. NASA relies on Starship for Artemis moon missions SpaceX is also under contract with NASA to develop a lunar lander configuration of its Starship to ferry astronauts to the moon, known as the Human Landing System. NASA is relying on Starship to be ready for a mission due in 2027 known as Artemis III. SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are competing to develop lunar landers for future crewed and uncrewed Artemis missions, both of which will be tested first in Earth orbit during the crewed Artemis III mission. See photos of Starship rocket launches What happened on the last Starship flight test in May? During Starship's last flight test on May 22, the booster helped propel the upper stage on its journey before it made a water landing in the Gulf Coast. The upper stage, sometimes referred to simply as 'Ship, then used its own six Raptor engines to fly halfway around the world before landing and exploding as expected in the Indian Ocean. Along the way, Starship succeeded in deploying 20 mock versions of SpaceX's Starlink satellites and two modified satellites that, in a major first, imaged Starship while it climbed into space. Contributing: Rick Neale, Brooke Edwards, Florida Today Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]. Subscribe to the free Florida TODAY newsletter.
What SpaceX's Starship flight 13 test means for Florida's Space Coast
SpaceX has big plans for Starship during its 13th test flight from South Texas as the pressure is on for the rocket to be ready for missions to the moon and Mars. For just the second time in 2026, SpaceX is preparing to launch the world's largest rocket. Starship, the commercial spaceflight company's super heavy-lift launch vehicle, is due to get off the ground in South Texas on the heels of a largely successful May flight test. And as usual, the stakes are high for SpaceX and its chief executive, tech mogul Elon Musk. The upcoming flight will be the 13th for Starship overall, including its April 2023 debut, and the second for SpaceX's new prototype that serves as the largest iteration of the rocket to date. The pressure is on for SpaceX, which is working under a strict deadline to have Starship ready for NASA's fast-approaching moon landing missions. Musk, of course, also still dreams of sending the rocket on interplanetary voyages to Mars. The latest flight test also comes as SpaceX continues preparations to bring Starship to Florida's Space Coast. Here's everything to know about the next Starship launch, which SpaceX refers to as flight 13, as well as the latest on plans for its maiden flight in Florida. When is the next Starship launch date? SpaceX is working toward a Thursday, July 16, launch of its Starship rocket, the company announced. The launch window is due to open from 6:45 to 8:15 p.m. ET. Where does Starship launch? As it has since its maiden launch in April 2023, Starship will once again get off the ground from SpaceX's Starbase company town and headquarters in South Texas. Starbase is located close to the U.S.-Mexico border near the well-known Boca Chica Beach. In May 2025, Texas voters in Cameron County - most of whom are SpaceX employees - approved a measure to officially recognize the company's headquarters as its own town, complete with a mayor and city commissioners. What is Starship? Starship is the massive rocket that SpaceX, the commercial company founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been testing since April 2023. SpaceX is developing the rocket to be a fully reusable transportation system that can carry huge satellites and other payloads to space, meaning both the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions. How tall is Starship? Is it the world's largest rocket? Starship's most recent flight test in May marked the debut of SpaceX's third-generation prototype of the rocket. Standing at 407 feet tall when fully stacked, the new iteration of Starship - known as Version 3, or V3 - became the largest and most powerful rocket SpaceX has ever launched. Similar to previous designs, the fully integrated Starship spacecraft is composed of both a 236-feet-tall lower-stage booster known as Super Heavy, as well as a 171-feet-tall upper stage simply called Starship. What is SpaceX planning for flight 13? For the next Starship test flight, SpaceX said it is aiming to complete similar objectives as the last launch in May in which it debuted its Version 3 prototype. SpaceX plans to push the performance of the Super Heavy booster - responsible for the initial burst of thrust at liftoff - before it lands in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed in the U.S. under executive order as the Gulf of America. The upper stage, which is designed to eventually fly in orbit, will also be put to the test as it flies halfway around the world ahead of a landing in the Indian Ocean. Starship to carry Starlink satellites to space In a major first, Starship will be carrying 20 larger versions of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites that it will attempt to deliver into suborbital space. The satellites will deploy solar arrays and antennas while attempeting to connect with SpaceX's larger Starlink constellation higher up in orbit before they fall toward the ground and burn up in the atmosphere about 20 minutes later. If this sounds familiar, that's because SpaceX has deployed mock Starlink satellites during previous Starship flight tests. Why is SpaceX testing Starship? Elon Musk envisions colony on Mars Musk's vision has long been for Starship to be an interplanetary vehicle that takes humans to Mars, where they can establish a self-sustaining colony. While the world's richest man has indicated that SpaceX will focus on building a lunar city first, the company has already announced a human-led expedition to Mars' orbit - though it has not set a target date. In order for that to be possible, Starship will need to be capable of refueling midflight in a complex process that requires two Starships equipped with docking adapters to meet in orbit to transfer propellant. The maneuver is one SpaceX has yet to test. When could Starship launch in Florida? Florida's first landmark Starship launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center could also take flight in 2026 in late summer or early fall, according to the U.S. Space Force. Plans to get the rocket off the ground from the Sunshine State come as SpaceX continues to ready longterm launch and landing operations at not only Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A, but Launch Complex 37 at the neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Super Heavy boosters could begin arriving on SpaceX's drone barge You'll Thank Me Later in the coming months. And at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Gigabay - an enormous Starship maintenance facility - is rising beam-by-beam off Roberts Road. NASA relies on Starship for Artemis moon missions SpaceX is also under contract with NASA to develop a lunar lander configuration of its Starship to ferry astronauts to the moon, known as the Human Landing System. NASA is relying on Starship to be ready for a mission due in 2027 known as Artemis III. SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are competing to develop lunar landers for future crewed and uncrewed Artemis missions, both of which will be tested first in Earth orbit during the crewed Artemis III mission. See photos of Starship rocket launches What happened on the last Starship flight test in May? During Starship's last flight test on May 22, the booster helped propel the upper stage on its journey before it made a water landing in the Gulf Coast. The upper stage, sometimes referred to simply as 'Ship, then used its own six Raptor engines to fly halfway around the world before landing and exploding as expected in the Indian Ocean. Along the way, Starship succeeded in deploying 20 mock versions of SpaceX's Starlink satellites and two modified satellites that, in a major first, imaged Starship while it climbed into space. Contributing: Rick Neale, Brooke Edwards, Florida Today Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]. Subscribe to the free Florida TODAY newsletter.