Elon Musk is thinking big. Literally.
Elon Musk is thinking big.
In the months since Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX -1.74%) went public -- and even before -- barrels of virtual ink have been spilled describing how SpaceX, which began life as a rocket launch company, is leaning ever more toward becoming an artificial intelligence (AI) behemoth.
Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk predicts that, of the company's $28.5 trillion total addressable market, $26.5 trillion will come from selling AI infrastructure, subscriptions, applications, and advertising. But SpaceX's transformation from a space company into primarily an AI company is just one way that SpaceX is changing.
Last week, we learned of three more.
Fewer rockets, bigger rockets
SpaceX set new record in 2025 by launching 165 orbital missions and conducting five test flights of its Starship megarocket. That was up from 138 total launches in 2024. Curiously, though, that seems to be the high-water mark for SpaceX (at least for now).
In 2026, according to Ars Technica, SpaceX might launch as few as 140 times -- potentially falling below 2024's total. And CNBC reports that SpaceX will slow its launch pace even further in 2027 as it moves forward with plans to slowly retire both the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and its Crew Dragon spacecraft.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that SpaceX expects Starship to take up the slack. With 150 tons of payload to low Earth orbit, each Starship launch will have about six times the payload capacity of a Falcon 9. Meaning, even as SpaceX conducts fewer launches, it should be able to easily put more cargo into orbit with a much bigger rocket.
More satellites, bigger satellites
Averytin News Financial update.