SpaceX plans orbital knowledge facilities, skeptics spotlight dangers
On a livestream earlier than the SpaceX IPO, Musk mentioned he needed to take the corporate public partially to boost cash for the “huge capital endeavor” of constructing and operating synthetic intelligence knowledge facilities in house.
So-called orbital knowledge facilities “would be the main means by which AI may be expanded,” Musk mentioned. And placing knowledge facilities into orbit could assist firms keep away from the group backlash towards knowledge facilities and the generally polluting energy vegetation put in to run them on Earth.
“There are only a few individuals who desire a energy plant of their yard, so if we needed to say double the electrical energy utilization of america, which is on common about 500 gigawatts, we might have twice as many energy vegetation,” he mentioned.
In house, he mused, firms can “go far past the electrical energy era of earth,” by operating their gear on solar energy across the clock.
Nevertheless, space-based knowledge facilities are unproven to this point, and have a panoply of related dangers.
Electronics required for AI coaching and inference are heavy to raise, power-hungry, and require thermal regulation. But, cooling them cannot be executed as simply within the vacuum of house.
Placing satellites filled with computing gear in house might grow to be much less impractical with the adoption of chips that characteristic superconducting logic, fairly than conventional semiconductors, mentioned Peter Barrett, a common accomplice at enterprise agency Playground International.
“Doing it the way in which they’re at the moment planning on doing it’s insanity, but it surely will not be an issue, as a result of it is by no means going to occur,” he mentioned.
SpaceX shouldn’t be the one firm engaged on orbital knowledge facilities, in fact. Alphabet’s Challenge Suncatcher shares the identical ambition. Nevertheless, SpaceX’s timeline is aggressive.
The corporate goals to deploy its first satellites that may present computing energy for AI fashions as quickly as 2028, based on its IPO prospectus.
—Jordan Novet and Lora Kolodny
Shotwell says we might see Starship in orbit by the tip of the 12 months
Shotwell mentioned orbital flights for Starship “largely relies upon” on the Federal Aviation Administration, however the firm ought to fly each month and we might see Starship in orbit by the tip of this 12 months.
“Now we have executed an in-space Raptor lighting, so we really feel fairly comfy, however we would like one other suborbital shot on the subsequent flight,” she mentioned.
—Chris Eudaily
SpaceX IPO is Gwynne Shotwell’s ‘unveiling’
SpaceX President and CEO Gwynne Shotwell sits down with CNBC’s Morgan Brennan to speak concerning the firm’s IPO.
CNBC
Jennifer Nason, former international chair, funding banking at JP Morgan, advised CNBC’s “Morning Name” that the SpaceX IPO is “a little bit of an unveiling” for Gwynne Shotwell.
“Elon can take lots of the oxygen out of the room, however she’s been there from the start,” Nason mentioned.
—Chris Eudaily
COO Gwynne Shotwell had her doubts about an IPO

SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell advised CNBC’s Morgan Brennan that she “wasn’t positive we might go public.”
“At the moment, throughout SpaceX’s numerous companies, the constructing blocks of a publicly traded firm at the moment are in place,” she mentioned in an unique interview.
Shotwell is the corporate’s high government beneath Musk.
“I don’t wish to deal with quarterly earnings,” she advised Brennan. “I am not saying we’re not going to do proper by our traders, however what people who spend money on SpaceX must know is that what we’re doing may be very futuristic.”
—Chris Eudaily
What number of shares are being bought and what’s the market cap
SpaceX is providing 555,555,555 shares of Class A typical inventory within the IPO. On the $135 per share set value, the providing raised $75 billion.
There may be an overallotment of 83,333,333 Class A shares out there to underwriters for as much as 30 days after the June 3 S-1A.
With out the overallotment, there are 13,075,865,175 Class A and B shares out there instantly, which places the SpaceX market cap at $1.77 billion.
Ought to the overallotment be exercised, these would add to the whole Class A and B shares and improve the market cap accordingly.
—Chris Eudaily
SpaceX buzz builds on WallStreetBets
SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, for its sixth flight check on November 19, 2024.
Chandan Khanna | Afp | Getty Photos
SpaceX has been a scorching matter on Reddit’s WallStreetBets, the dialogue discussion board that grew to become synonymous with the meme inventory craze.
The rocket startup has been talked about greater than 1,600 instances on the platform since Monday, based on knowledge shared with CNBC by meme inventory tracker Breakout Level. These numbers have made it one of many most-discussed firms on WallStreetBets within the days main as much as the IPO, Breakout Level’s knowledge exhibits.
—Alex Harring
SpaceX spends greater than it makes, even with Starlink as its money cow
In line with IPO filings, the corporate has racked up a deficit of round $41.3 billion because it was based in 2002.
It has already spent greater than $15 billion to develop its huge, Starship rocket, which it intends to be absolutely re-usable sooner or later. Starship can be meant to deliver NASA astronauts again to the floor of the moon, and ultimately to Mars.
SpaceX mentioned in its prospectus that its connectivity unit, primarily comprised of Starlink, generated $11.39 billion in 2025, accounting for 61% of complete gross sales. Within the first quarter of this 12 months, it climbed to 69% of complete gross sales.
The corporate cautioned traders in its prospectus about its historical past of web losses, and that it might not obtain profitability sooner or later. It misplaced $4.9 billion final 12 months, and $4.28 billion within the first quarter of 2026, alone with each capital and working bills anticipated to extend because it spends closely on Starship and AI initiatives.
—Lora Kolodny
What SpaceX will use the funding for
A SpaceX Starship spacecraft rolls out towards its launch pad previous the Starbase Manufacturing Facility earlier than its tenth check flight from the corporate’s complicated in Starbase, Texas, U.S., August 23, 2025.
Steve Nesius | Reuters
The capital raised within the IPO is anticipated to fund the additional growth of SpaceX’s huge Starship rockets, that are at the moment in a check flight section and aren’t but absolutely re-usable.
The corporate can even use the funding for future AI merchandise and infrastructure, together with a chip manufacturing unit referred to as Terafab that SpaceX will construct with Tesla and Intel in Texas.
—Lora Kolodny

