Bloomberg reports that SpaceX has approached Goldman Sachs in hopes of arranging a $500M leveraged loan, potentially opening up an entirely new avenue of capital for the company as it approaches inflection points in its two largest development programs, the Starlink internet satellite constellation and its next-generation BFR rocket and spaceship.
In the United States, the market for leveraged loans (a form of debt capital) has experienced unprecedented growth in 2018, soaring past $1.3 trillion total. Unlike borrowers typically pursuing leveraged loans, SpaceX has little to no debt to speak of and is likely either financially stable or even healthily profitable.
The fact that SpaceX is not already heavily leveraged (i.e. lots of debt) indicates that the company’s interest in this type of loan – versus something more like traditional equity sales – arises from the need for capital to fund major one-time investments that are likely to peak within the next 2-3 years, if not sooner. Leveraged loans are typically classified as riskier investments due to the tendency for borrowers to already have plenty of debt: in the case of SpaceX, it’s clear that that risk derives more from the fundamentally risky nature of space-related endeavors.
Success is not guaranteed even if SpaceX has plenty of funds to invest in satellite constellation or rocket R&D, while major one-time expenditures like the construction of a new launch pad and test facility for BFR also carry the risk of potentially catastrophic destruction in the event of a vehicle failure during testing or launch, one case that was proven out during the September 2016 on-pad failure of a Falcon 9 rocket, multiple times smaller than BFR. Leveraged loans still are likely to work in SpaceX’s favor, drawing in investors already willing to accept that inherent risk when the potential rewards of success are immense.
“The benefits of this maiden voyage [into leveraged loan borrowing] are clear: SpaceX should have ample funding needs for many years to come as it keeps Mars in its sights. Crucially for Musk, loans are more private than most other forms of capital raising — and very hard to short.”
Starlink
While the exact status of SpaceX’s major development programs is not public, it can be reasonably intuited that the company’s Starlink constellation is likely in the process of restructuring an R&D-centered experimental wing into something closer to a factory. Such a factory will be an absolute necessity if SpaceX intends to mass-produce high-performance smallsats at a truly unprecedented scale: ~4500 satellites make up the first wave of the constellation alone, while nearly ~7500 more would eventually follow to allow Starlink to truly blanket the world with fast internet access.
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- SpaceX’s first two Starlink prototype satellites are pictured here before their inaugural Feb. 2018 launch, showing off a utilitarian design. (SpaceX)
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- One of the first two prototype Starlink satellites separates from Falcon 9’s upper stage, February 2018. (SpaceX)
BFR
SpaceX’s Big F____ Rocket – deemed Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) in public statements – is no less capital-hungry. Aside from major investments in tooling and the lengthy and return-free process of designing such a large, complex, and advanced launch vehicle, SpaceX is in the process of preparing a site for a dedicated BFR factory at Port of Los Angeles. Currently housed in a huge temporary tent, it’s already clear that spaceship prototype fabrication could benefit greatly from workspace expansions and a more controlled environment. Long-term, such a factory will be a basic necessity for SpaceX to begin true serial production of BFR boosters and spaceships.
In South Texas, SpaceX is also beginning the expensive process of constructing some combination of a launch pad and testing facility dedicated to the BFR program. Most recently, two massive propellant storage tanks have arrived at a nearby facility at the same time as construction is beginning in earnest on the circa-2014 site of SpaceX’s proposed launch pad.
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- SpaceX’s initial BFR work is being performed in a giant temporary tent located at Port of LA. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Yusaku Maezawa stands on the first BFR composite tank/fuselage section prior to his Sept. 17 announcement. (Yusaku Maezawa)
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- SpaceX’s massive BFR mandrel, used to mold its composite structures. (SpaceX)
Ultimately, the company could benefit immensely from an infusion of free capital, if for no other reason than to expedite critical infrastructure investments that will become the foundation for Starlink and BFR.
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Tesla Robotaxi is among its biggest projects currently, but many have been quick to point out the fact that the company has definitely been slow to expand its fleet.
However, there is definitely a method to that madness. CEO Elon Musk answered several concerns during last night’s quarterly earnings call that some might have about that slow rollout of the Robotaxi suite, maintaining the company’s narrative on prioritizing safety and wanting to avoid injuries to anyone, including animals.
Musk said:
“With Robotaxi, our goals are very ambitious for Robotaxi, but we do need to be cautious about causing any accidents or causing any harm to anyone. Although there are, I think, 30,000 to 40,000 automotive deaths per year in the U.S. alone, most of those do not generate any press or maybe, you never really read about almost any of those. If we injure even one person, it’ll be worldwide headline news, and regulators will immediately clamp down on our activities.
We don’t want to injure anyone. We’re going as fast as humanly possible in scaling Robotaxi, but while trying to ensure that we do not harm anyone at all, and ideally do not even run over a pet. That’s really the constraint is we want to grow as fast as possible with Robotaxi without harm to anyone.”
Tesla has maintained an exemplary safety record with its Robotaxi suite, according to internal data. VP of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said that the Robotaxi suite has driven more than 380,000 miles unsupervised without any incidents.
0 notable incidents across over 380,000 miles traveled by Robotaxi
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 22, 2026
Analyst Colin Langan of Bank of America also pushed Tesla executives for answers regarding the company’s decision to add cities across several states with dozens of vehicles “as opposed to hundreds.”
Elluswamy said there’s a bigger advantage to do it the way Tesla has been because it ensures that its software stack “is a very general one:”
“The reason we have been expanding across different cities instead of just doubling down on a single city, is that we want to make sure that our stack is a very general one. It is a general one. We just want to both prove to ourselves and to other folks that it is working across a lot of different cities without too much effort per city. That’s what we see internally.”
In the past, we have written about Tesla’s decision to be incredibly conservative with its Robotaxi rollout, especially with the incredibly small fleet size compared to competitors. However, there really is not a price anyone can put on safety for those utilizing the platform or pedestrians, so what Tesla is doing is justified.
A year into the Robotaxi program being active, Tesla has made major strides, but many investors and fans would like to see the fleet expand as quickly as the program has to other cities and states.
Elon Musk
Tesla Semi finally has an FSD timeline and it’s waiting on the Cybercab
Elon Musk told investors Semi self-driving should start working by early 2027, per today’s earnings.
During Wednesday’s’ Tesla Q2 earnings call, an analyst asked Elon Musk when Tesla would look at autonomy for the Semi. His answer set a real timeline for the first time, noting that self-driving on the Tesla Semi is expected to start working “around the end of this year or early next year”.
Musk framed the delay as a matter of priority, not capability. Tesla’s self-driving team is currently focused on Model 3, Model Y, and Cybercab, the vehicles that make up the overwhelming majority of Tesla’s fleet. Since Semi trucks on the road remain a small fraction of that total even after the recent Nevada factory ramp, Musk said it made more sense to keep the software team’s attention on what he called “the march of nines of safety” for the higher volume vehicles first. Autonomous Semi development is “taking a bit of a backseat for the next six months or so,” he said, before adding that it “will definitely be working next year and in time for the scale-up to high production of the Tesla Semi.”
Tesla Semi’s official battery capacity leaked by California regulators
The timeline lines up with what’s already been showing up on public roads. In June, a Tesla Semi was spotted in Sunnyvale wearing a full validation rig, the same rooftop sensor array Tesla mounts on vehicles ahead of an FSD milestone.
A second unit was seen near Fremont days later with a matching camera suite and lens washers. Separately, Tesla analyst Nic Cruz Patane posted video this month of the production Semi’s exterior camera array, ten AI4 based units built directly into the truck rather than added later.
Tesla Semi AI4 cameras. The production version has 10 cameras on its exterior.
These trucks are designed to be autonomous. pic.twitter.com/GH3BamxIBQ
— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) April 14, 2026
Musk also gave the reason autonomy on the Semi matters in the first place, a persistent shortage of qualified truck drivers. “There is a really serious shortage of truckers,” he said on the call, framing a self-driving Semi as important both for addressing that shortage and for improving safety and comfort for the drivers running the truck today.
The timing also tracks with the Semi’s production reality. Tesla’s Q2 shareholder letter, dropped language promising the Semi would reach volume production this year. Musk pointed to 4680 battery cell output as the near-term constraint on Semi and Cybercab production. A software timeline landing in early 2027 gives Tesla’s autonomy team room to work while the hardware ramp catches up behind it.
It’s worth nothing that this isn’t necessarily a promise the Semi ships driverless next year. Musk’s own language, self-driving “working” by early 2027, describes internal validation catching up to hardware already riding on every production truck, not a public unsupervised rollout.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2026 on Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what the company reported compared to what Wall Street analysts expected.
The earnings results come after Tesla reported a massive beat on vehicle deliveries for the second quarter, delivering 489,126 vehicles and building 451,758 cars during the three-month span.
This was a major shock for those on Wall Street as they anticipated somewhere around 400,000 deliveries for the quarter, and showed Tesla still has plenty of demand for its vehicles around the world and in the U.S. despite losing the $7,500 EV Tax Credit last year.
Tesla Q2 2026 Earnings Results
- Non-GAAP EPS – $0.33 reported vs. $0.53 expected
- Revenues – $28.236 billion reported vs. $26.4 billion expected
- Free Cash Flow- -$1.092B
- Profit -$ 4.751B
Tesla (beat/missed) analyst expectations, so the market response to the company’s quarter is what we will look for next.
Tesla shares closed today down just over 1 percent, trading at $374.01.
In the past, it has been anyone’s guess with what Tesla shares will do after they report earnings. Strong quarters have resulted in sharp drops, while lackluster quarters have seen the stock shoot up considerably.
Tesla will hold its Q2 2026 Earnings Call in about 90 minutes at 5:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Remarks will be made by CEO Elon Musk and other executives, who will shed some light on the investor questions that we covered earlier this week.
You can stream it below. Additionally, we will be doing our Live Blog on X and Facebook.
Q2 2026 Earnings Call https://t.co/zZS6ii2TWK
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 22, 2026
Tesla Robotaxi’s slow rollout gets explanation from Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s answer to Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey got way more specific
