SpaceX
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft nears launch debut as Falcon 9 tests wrap up
Known as Demonstration Mission 1 (DM-1), the inaugural flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is closer than ever before as the company wraps up ground testing of the rocket that will launch it.
Meanwhile, astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are continuing to prepare for DM-2 – the first launch of Crew Dragon with crew onboard – by familiarizing themselves with SpaceX’s completed hardware, software, and procedures.
Commercial crew astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are getting familiar with operating inside @SpaceX's Crew Dragon, fully suited! pic.twitter.com/41cqRwhzdp
— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) November 2, 2018
Originally expected to occur before the end of 2017, Commercial Crew partners SpaceX, Boeing, and NASA have been forced to repeatedly delay the inaugural uncrewed and crewed launches of both the Crew Dragon (SpaceX) and Starliner (Boeing) crew transport vehicles, which have slipped roughly 3-6 months with every quarterly schedule update.
Generally speaking, the sources of those delays can be split evenly between NASA and its two commercial partners. A majority of the commercial-side slips can be attributed to unexpected hardware failures between the beginning of the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and expected launch dates, with SpaceX experiencing two catastrophic failures of Falcon 9 (CRS-7 and Amos-6) and Boeing suffering a major anomaly while performing ground tests ahead of a Starliner pad-abort. Prior to the September 2016 Amos-6 failure of Falcon 9, SpaceX was arguably on track for the inaugural launch of Crew Dragon in late-2017/early-2018, having already completed a successful pad-abort demonstration in 2015 and eight successful launches since the CRS-7 failure.
- In this illustration, a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is shown in low-Earth orbit. (SpaceX)
- SpaceX’s Demo Mission-1 Crew Dragon seen preparing for vacuum tests at a NASA-run facility, June 2018. (SpaceX)
- The DM-1 Crew Dragon testing inside SpaceX’s anechoic chamber, May 2018. (SpaceX)
- NASA Astronaut Suni Williams, fully suited in SpaceX’s spacesuit, interfaces with the display inside a mock-up of the Crew Dragon spacecraft in Hawthorne, California, during a testing exercise on April 3. (SpaceX)
The Statue and the Hare
Aside from serious hardware failures, the rest of SpaceX’s Commercial Crew delays can be blamed on the company’s tendency to relentlessly iterate, improve, and generally modify both its hardware and software, to the extent that SpaceX’s Vice President of Production stated in mid-2018 that “[SpaceX has] never built any two vehicles identically”. For NASA’s often dysfunctionally and counterproductively risk-averse human spaceflight divisions, that sentence alone is probably enough to trigger panic attacks. As a result, SpaceX has been led to significantly change its style of operations over the last several years, reaching some sort of compromise that was more acceptable to NASA.
Further, despite the failures of CRS-7 and Amos-6, SpaceX continued to dramatically modify Falcon 9’s design – a major vehicle-wide upgrade known as Falcon 9 1.2 (Full Thrust, Block 1) debuted on the CRS-7 return-to-flight, while Amos-6 would have been the first launch of Falcon 9 Block 3 and likely failed as a result of faster fueling procedures and much colder propellant. Less than a year later, SpaceX debuted Falcon 9 Block 4. Roughly half a year after that, SpaceX debuted Falcon 9 Block 5, perhaps the most significant upgrade to the rocket yet. Ultimately, all changes made to Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon translate into additional work for NASA and SpaceX, known formally as “certification” and informally as exhaustive testing sandwiched by mountains of paperwork.
- DM-2 astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley train for their first flight in Crew Dragon. (NASA)
- SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule C203 – then assigned DM-2 – is seen here in August 2018. (Pauline Acalin)
- SpaceX installed its Crew Access Arm (CAA) in September 2018. (Tom Cross)
- SpaceX’s extraordinary custom spacesuit. Crew Dragon astronauts will wear this suit while inside the space capsule. (Pauline Acalin)
- A concert of Draco thrusters work to push Dragon away from the ISS and back towards Earth. (ESA)
In the case of the CCP, NASA itself has been a major source of delays as Boeing and SpaceX get much closer to launch dates and hardware is effectively completed, integrated, and ready to go. According to both Hans Koenigsmann (VP of Flight Reliability) and Gwynne Shotwell (President and COO) in the last few months, both executives were supremely confident that the hardware (Crew Dragon: capsule, trunk; Falcon 9: Merlins, upper stage, booster; Launch Complex 39A) would be ready for DM-1 no later than December 2018. Those statements imply that additional delays were unlikely to be a consequence of hardware readiness, indicating that delays beyond December would presumably be caused by paperwork and/or ISS scheduling.
In this sense, it could well be the case that NASA’s behind-schedule completion of critical certification and approval paperwork – paperwork that NASA alone required and knew it would have to finish prior to launch for the last several years – will or already have delayed SpaceX’s first Crew Dragon launch by at least a month. DM-1 is currently targeting a launch in January 2019.
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Elon Musk
SpaceX (SPCX) IPO is live today at $135: Here’s exactly what you need to know
SpaceX priced its historic IPO at $135 per share today, raising a record $75 billion.
SpaceX officially priced its initial public offering at $135 per share, offering 555,555,555 shares of Class A common stock and raising $75 billion in what is the largest IPO in stock market history. Shares are set to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Friday, June 12, under the ticker symbol SPCX. The previous record holder was Saudi Aramco’s 2019 offering at $29 billion, followed by Alibaba’s $22 billion offering in 2014.
At $135 per share and roughly 555.6 million shares, the implied valuation sits near $1.75 trillion, which would make SpaceX roughly the seventh largest company in the United States, just above Tesla’s current market cap. Regular investors can request shares at the IPO price through Robinhood, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, SoFi, and E*TRADE, though the deal is heavily oversubscribed and most retail allocations will be partial or unfilled. Once trading opens June 12, anyone with a brokerage account can buy SPCX on the open market.
SpaceX’s amended S-1 is sparking a major Tesla merger conversation
The valuation is anchored primarily by Starlink. Starlink crossed 10 million subscribers as of February 2026 and is adding 750,000 to 1.5 million new users per month, with the connectivity segment already posting a $1.19 billion profit last quarter. The offering also bundles in xAI following SpaceX’s all-stock merger earlier this year, adding Grok and the Colossus supercomputer to the investment thesis. As Teslarati reported, Starlink ended 2025 with $10 billion in revenue, a figure analysts project could reach $24 billion by end of 2026.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has been vocal in his support. “I think the time is right,” Ives said, adding that the offering expands the Elon Musk ecosystem rather than competing with Tesla. An average 12-month price target of $165 per share represents roughly 22% upside from the IPO price. Not everyone agrees – Motley Fool noted xAI is spending $1 billion per month playing catch-up to OpenAI and Anthropic.
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with a single stated purpose. “Elon founded SpaceX with a goal to change humanity, to make us a multi-planet species,” CFO Bret Johnsen said in the company’s retail roadshow video this week. Musk himself has been more direct: “We are building the systems and technologies necessary to provide global connectivity on Earth and beyond, to understand the true nature of the universe, and to extend the light of consciousness to the stars.”
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Elon Musk relieves worries about orbital data centers
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently confronted worries about orbital data centers and launching satellites in mass quantities in space, as some voiced concerns about crowding.
Musk’s SpaceX plans to combat the issue of needing data centers by launching them into space instead of taking up valuable real estate on Earth. It has been a major point of SpaceX’s future, including its looming IPO, which could be the largest ever.
In a recent interview filmed at SpaceX’s Starlink terminal factory in Bastrop, Texas, Elon Musk directly addressed concerns that deploying large numbers of AI satellites for orbital data centers could crowd Earth’s orbit. His message was straightforward and reassuring: space is vast beyond human intuition.
“Space is really big,” Musk said. “It’s not like space is gonna get crowded. Space is enormous. If you actually look at it relative to the Earth, the satellites are so tiny you can’t even see them.” He emphasized that even zooming in makes a satellite appear large, but from a planetary perspective, they are minuscule specks.
Elon on concerns that AI satellites will crowd space:
“Space is really big. It’s not like space is gonna get crowded. Space is enormous. If you actually look at it relative to the earth, the satellites are so tiny you can’t even see them.” https://t.co/Mvr7NpL25Q pic.twitter.com/5Fi629Rii7
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 8, 2026
Musk pointed to SpaceX’s real-world experience operating roughly 10,000 Starlink satellites as evidence that large constellations can be managed safely. “We’ve got a pretty good idea of how to operate just really large constellations and do it safely,” he noted. SpaceX remains the only operator with meaningful experience at this scale, giving the company unique insight into tight orbital packing without compromising safety
The discussion highlighted SpaceX’s plans for “AI1” satellites—essentially orbiting racks of AI compute powered by massive solar arrays and cooled via radiative panels in space’s vacuum.
These satellites leverage proven Starlink V3 technology, making them simpler to design than communications satellites. A first-generation unit targets around 150 kW peak power, with a 70-meter wingspan for solar panels and radiators. Laser links will connect them to each other and the Starlink network, delivering low-latency access (on the order of a few milliseconds from low-Earth orbit).
FCC accepts SpaceX filing for 1 million orbital data center plan
Musk framed orbital data centers as a practical solution to Earth’s constraints on AI growth. Ground-based facilities face power shortages, water demands for cooling, and grid limitations. In space, constant sunlight (no day-night cycle), vacuum radiative cooling, and abundant solar energy offer clear advantages.
Production will ramp up at an expanded “Gigasat” factory in Bastrop, with solar manufacturing already underway and full AI satellite output expected at reasonable volume by the end of 2027. Starship’s rapid, high-volume launch capability, aiming for multiple flights per hour, will make massive deployment feasible.
Critics sometimes raise risks like space debris or Kessler syndrome, but Musk’s response underscores scale: even a million satellites would represent an imperceptible fraction of available orbital volume when viewed against Earth’s size. SpaceX’s automated collision avoidance and deorbiting designs for Starlink further mitigate concerns.
This vision ties into broader ambitions. Musk sees orbital AI compute as a step toward harnessing more of the Sun’s energy, advancing humanity on the Kardashev scale from a Type 0 civilization toward Type 1 and eventually Type 2. By moving power-hungry data centers off-planet, SpaceX aims to unlock orders-of-magnitude more compute while preserving Earth’s resources.
Musk’s comments should ease public anxiety. With proven operational expertise, incremental engineering, and the immensity of space itself, orbital data centers represent not overcrowding, but smart expansion into the final frontier.
Investor's Corner
SpaceX IPO set to provide massive $11.6B windfall for teacher pension plan
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) stands to reap one of the most extraordinary returns in pension fund history thanks to a bold 2019 investment in SpaceX.
According to a recent report from The Globe and Mail, the Toronto-based fund invested roughly $300 million CAD (~$220 million USD at the time) in Elon Musk’s space company as its inaugural deal through the Teachers’ Innovation Platform.
At SpaceX’s anticipated $1.75 trillion IPO valuation, set for a mid-June debut on Nasdaq under ticker $SPCX, that stake could now be worth up to $11.6 billion USD. This would represent a roughly 50x return and easily become OTPP’s most successful single investment ever.
The fund manages $279 billion in assets for approximately 346,000 working and retired teachers in Ontario, potentially delivering an average boost of around $33,500 per member if fully realized.
SpaceX has filed its S-1 and plans to price shares at $135 each, aiming to raise a record $75 billion in what would be the largest IPO in history, surpassing Saudi Aramco. The company reported $18.67 billion in revenue for 2025, driven primarily by Starlink satellite internet growth and NASA contracts, though it continues to post significant losses tied to ambitious R&D in Starship and AI initiatives.
Important pieces moving forward include:
- Starlink Expansion: The satellite broadband service is scaling rapidly, targeting global connectivity, especially in underserved rural and remote areas. This segment offers massive recurring revenue potential as numbers climb.
- Starship and Reusability Leadership: SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship aims to slash launch costs dramatically, enabling frequent missions, Mars ambitions, and lucrative government/defense contracts. Success here could unlock exponential growth.
- AI and Diversification: Recent moves, including ties to xAI, position SpaceX in high-growth AI infrastructure, broadening beyond traditional aerospace.
- Validation Scrutiny: While the $1.75 trillion target excites investors, analysts like Morningstar value the company closer to $780 billion, citing high multiples (around 90x trailing revenue) and execution risks. A 180-day lockup period will prevent early investors like OTPP from selling immediately post-IPO.
The irony has not been lost on observers. Ontario’s government previously canceled a Starlink rural internet contract amid political tensions involving Musk, yet the pension fund’s savvy investment, made when SpaceX was valued around $33-36 billion, and Starlink was nascent, delivers outsized gains independent of politics.
For OTPP, this windfall strengthens its already solid 111 percent funding ratio and underscores the value of patient, innovation-focused capital allocation.
For SpaceX, the IPO marks a new chapter: greater transparency, access to public markets for talent retention and growth capital, and heightened pressure to deliver on its multi-planetary vision.
All eyes are fixed on whether SpaceX can justify its lofty valuation through sustained execution. For Ontario teachers, the returns are already stellar, but SpaceX, like other Musk companies in the past, has plenty of things to prove. Perhaps the most ideal person for the job is at the helm, hoping to bring the company to a massive valuation.








