SpaceX
3D-printed Mars habitat could be a perfect fit for early SpaceX Starship colonies
Space architecture startup AI SpaceFactory achieved second place in the latest phase of a NASA-led competition, pitting several groups against each other in pursuit of designing a 3D-printed Mars habitat and physically demonstrating some of the technologies needed to build them.
With a focus on ease of scalable 3D-printing and inhabitants’ quality of life, as well as the use of modular imported goods like windows and airlocks, MARSHA lends itself impeccably well to SpaceX’s goal of developing a sustainable human presence on Mars as quickly, safely, and affordably as possible with the support of its Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle.
Aside from developing a custom 3D-printing material utilizing in-situ Martian resources and demonstrating the technology by successfully printing a 1200 gallon (4500 L) water tank, SpaceFactory’s habitat design – known as MARSHA – combines a unique level of pragmatism, functionality, and aesthetic elegance. After analyzing different structural options, the SpaceFactory team settled on a cocoon-like cylinder, taking advantage of the many benefits of the Martian environment while controlling for its several downsides. Most notably, Martian gravity is roughly 38% of Earth’s, while the small planet’s atmosphere is typically 80-150 times less dense at surface-level. As a consequence, the forces exerted by Martian winds are minuscule and can effectively be ignored, while the low gravity dramatically minimizes architectural challenges that arise from Earthbound structures having to battle their own weight.
Equally important, all Martian habitats will need to be pressurized to a level comfortable for long-term colonists, requiring that they be able to survive significant internal pressurization. The Martian radiation environment is also significantly less forgiving than Earth, although the dangers of Martian radiation are dramatically overblown. The material of choice SpaceFactory designed to 3D-print its MARSHA habitat – a biorenewable plastic (PLA) reinforced with locally-sourced basalt fiber – also accounts for many of Mars’ shortcomings, as plastics happen to be some of the best materials for radiation shielding per unit of mass. Featuring a duo of PLA shells placing a meter or more of plastic between living areas, MARSHA would permit relatively acceptable radiation levels while avoiding the downsides of locating habitats underground or burying them under several meters of Martian regolith.
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- An overview of a potential Mars base built around the MARSHA habitat design. (AI SpaceFactory & PLOMP)
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- A glimpse into one floor of MARSHA’s Mars habitat interior. (AI SpaceFactory & PLOMP)
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- A number of BFR (2018) spaceships seen landed at a future Mars base. (SpaceX)
Thanks to its cylindrical design and SpaceFactory’s attention to quality of life for astronauts residing within it, MARSHA is also exceptionally beautiful and more than a little alluring even from the perspective of Earthly habitation. MARSHA’s thoughtful design and polished aesthetic would likely mesh well with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s own established preferences, known (sometimes infamously so) for a predilection towards building things that value form at least as much as function. Due to the relatively compact nature of the hardware needed (in theory) to begin building MARSHA and the apparent potential for autonomous construction, SpaceFactory’s design also aligns with a number of critical aspects of SpaceX’s outlined Mars colonization architecture.
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- AI SpaceFactory’s alluring vision of one route to humans living on Mars.
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- A cutaway view of MARSHA at Martian dusk. (AI SpaceFactory)
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- An outline of the main features of SpaceX’s “Mars Architecture”, present by Paul Wooster in August 2018. (SpaceX)
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- An overview of an early SpaceX Mars colony, circa 2017. (SpaceX)
Up next for NASA’s 3D-printed habitat competition is “Phase 3”, effectively a grand finale: up to eight finalists are expected to compete to 3D-print a 1/3rd scale model of their Mars habitat design as early as May 2019. While not confirmed, it’s likely that SpaceFactory will be among those finalists, potentially helping to offer an early glimpse at what rapidly-printed Mars habitats might look like in real life. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has also indicated that he would provide a more substantial update on the status of BFR (Starship/Super Heavy) and SpaceX’s Mars architecture soon after the company’s first Starship prototype – unofficially known as Starhopper – begins test flights. That milestone is like no fewer than 1-2 months away.
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Elon Musk’s space exploration company, SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX), is set to report its earnings for the second quarter today in what will be its first-ever earnings call since going public in July.
SpaceX is trading down roughly 25 percent from its IPO. These early stock signals are usually a bit tumultuous, and considering this is the first company actively launching rockets that is available on the stock exchange, investors might have a tendency to be a bit skittish.
However, there are going to be some details that investors will hear for the first time today on the earnings call. Here’s what to look for:
Wall Street Expectations
Revenue is expected to fall somewhere around $6.8 billion, and will be heavily driven by Starlink, which is SpaceX’s widely popular satellite internet platform that has been adopted by numerous airlines, cruise ships, and other maritime operations. It is also available for consumers at home or in their cars.
Earnings Per Share (EPS) expectations fall at a net loss of $0.23 per share. Wall Street sees this as a total net loss of roughly $1.9 billion.
EBITDA is expected to come in between $2 billion and $2.1 billion.
What Investors Want to Know
Tesla uses the Say platform to help work with both retail and institutional investors to answer relevant and quality questions that address concerns or questions that they might have.
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However, SpaceX is doing things differently, as the company launched its own Investor Relations website where these questions are being fielded. Just like the Tesla questions, they seem to be less focused on the operational tasks and overall progress of the company, and more novelty.
Here are the top five:
- Has the team thought about what possibilities there are with your mascot Asteroid? Whether it’s starting additional foundations for kids in its name, helping kids learn about space, etc. Kids are our future, and Asteroid would be a fun and easy way to help.
- Baby Asteroid is already making a difference through charity around the world. Could SpaceX take it even further with programs that inspire kids to explore space?
- SpaceX has some legendary vehicle names. Would you ever allow the public to name a Starship, even knowing there is a 99% chance it becomes Shipy McShipface?
- When can we expect to see more footage of the Human Landing System?
- Will Asteroid (your mascot) go to Mars?
SpaceX will report its earnings today, August 4, at 4:30 P.M. EDT.
SpaceX will report second quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday, August 4, marking the first time the company has opened its books to the public since its record IPO in June. Management will host a live audio only webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET, streamed on X, with no dial in option.
The debut carries more weight than a typical first quarter as a public company. Two trading days after the release, on August 6, the first tranche of SpaceX’s lockup expires, freeing roughly 911.5 million insider and employee shares, worth well over $100 billion at current prices and the largest such release in Wall Street history. A second, larger tranche tied to the stock trading 30 percent above its $135 IPO price never triggered, since shares have spent most of July trading below that price.
Wall Street’s models point to revenue near $6.9 billion for the quarter, up sharply from the $4.69 billion SpaceX reported in the first quarter, with a narrower per share loss than the $1.27 posted three months earlier, according to estimates compiled by Motley Fool. Those numbers will be the first look at how SpaceX’s three segments, Starlink, launch and AI, are performing independently.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
Investors heading into the call have a specific list of questions. How many net new Starlink subscribers did SpaceX add after ending March with 10.3 million, and is average revenue per user holding up as the service expands into lower income markets. How much of the AI segment’s revenue reflects contract signings with Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI this year, deals that combined could annualize to nearly $28 billion if fully ramped. Whether capital expenditures, which nearly doubled in the AI segment alone between 2024 and 2025, are still accelerating or starting to plateau. And whether management offers any forward guidance at all, something SpaceX has never done publicly.
The report will also land days after Elon Musk publicly denied a Wall Street Journal report describing internal planning to separate Tesla’s China business ahead of a potential Tesla-SpaceX merger. Whether Musk or SpaceX executives address that speculation on the call, even indirectly, maybe something investors will be listening for on Tuesday.
As Teslarati reported after Musk’s own warning to short sellers last week, the CEO has made clear he expects skeptics to be proven wrong over time. Tuesday will be the first chance for the numbers themselves to make that case.
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Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo
SpaceX released new footage of Starship in space captured by the Starlink satellites it deployed.
SpaceX released a new video Friday evening showing Starship from an angle showcased by its own Starlink satellites, watching the rocket drift away in orbit.
The 65 second clip, posted on X, stitches together footage from four cameras mounted on a single Starlink V3 satellite. It opens with a close view of Starship’s 171 foot upper stage, still catching sunlight, then pulls back as the two spacecraft separate.
The footage comes from Starship’s 13th flight test, which launched July 24 from Starbase after a scrubbed attempt and an abort caused by an engine issue the week before. When Flight 13 finally flew, it carried the first batch of functional Starlink V3 satellites Starship has ever deployed, twenty of them, with six equipped with cameras meant to scan the ship’s heat shield during reentry.
View of Starship in space from a Starlink V3 satellite on Flight 13.
This composite is made of imagery from four separate cameras on a single satellite. Six of the satellites were equipped with cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to… pic.twitter.com/sNTHHz5vLr
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 31, 2026
Flight 13 checked most of its boxes. Starship deployed all 20 satellites, relit a Raptor engine in space, and splashed down softly in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Musk’s longer term plan calls for a Starlink V3 constellation of 100,000 satellites, according to a recent FCC filing, with Starship as the only vehicle capable of launching them at the volume that requires. Each Starship flight is designed to carry up to 60 V3 satellites once the vehicle reaches routine service, well beyond what Falcon 9 can carry in a single mission.
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Starship is next expected to fly with an attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower’s mechanical arms, a maneuver SpaceX has so far reserved for the Super Heavy booster.
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