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SpaceX fans are launching a novel effort to invest in the company [Interview]
Spaced Ventures Founder and CEO Aaron Burnett found his calling when he saw the Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters landing in perfect unison during the spacecraft’s maiden voyage. SpaceX sought to inspire people with Falcon Heavy and its spacefaring Tesla Roadster, and for Burnett, the rocket’s flight definitely did.
“That thing, that image, essentially broke my brain wide open. That’s why I got involved and started doing what we’re doing today,” he said during a conversation with Teslarati.
Spaced Ventures is, to put it simply, an equity crowdfunding platform that pools money from individual investors to buy shares in privately held aerospace companies. The company is currently attempting its most ambitious initiative yet — securing enough pledges to get SpaceX’s attention and have its community members become investors in the private space company.
Aaron Burnett, Founder and CEO of Spaced Ventures
If the initiative succeeds, Spaced Ventures will become one of the few firms that were able to get individual shareholders into SpaceX. Achieving such a feat is not easy, as Elon Musk has openly expressed his reservations about taking SpaceX public in the past. SpaceX may be spinning off some of its divisions like Starlink and making those public, but for now, investing in the private space company is still an incredibly tricky endeavor.
During his conversation with Teslarati, Burnett, whose experience included leading growth for startups and a Fortune 500 company, explained that Spaced Ventures’ attempt to invest in SpaceX was the result of the community’s wishes. The Spaced Ventures community is closing in on 13,000 users, and with this growth, the company’s leadership opted to ask the community a question.
“If we could get a big space company to do a crowdfunding round, which one would you want?”
Burnett had a feeling that SpaceX would be one of the community’s top choices, but Spaced Ventures also provided other options, such as Axiom Space and Relativity Space. The choices in the survey featured aerospace companies with lofty goals, but as the results came in, it became highly evident that Spaced Ventures’ users overwhelmingly wanted to invest in SpaceX.
About 82% of the users polled wished to invest in Elon Musk’s private space company. “It was quite decisive. We could have guessed that that would happen. But this was a very nice, decisive moment for us where we said, ‘Okay, we’ll just do that,’” Burnett said.
And with that, Spaced Ventures started gathering pledges for its SpaceX initiative. The equity crowdfunding platform is looking to secure pledges worth $25 million from its users before it approaches SpaceX, and so far, it appears that Spaced Ventures may indeed have a shot. As of writing, 1,102 community members have pledged a total of $17,657,964 for the private space company.
That’s not a small amount by any means, and it’s quite impressive considering that pledges could be as low as $100. But this is only half the story, as some community members pledged amounts that were so notable that Burnett and his team had to double-check. When Spaced Ventures did, the aspiring SpaceX investors clarified that if given a chance, they would actually be investing more.
“I think what really surprised us is there are some individuals that wanna put a million or more. I’m like, ‘Ah, this seems ridiculous.’ So I call or (contact them) by email and say, ‘Wanna verify before we go to SpaceX. This is real. It’s not a joke.’ And several of them have responded that not only were they very serious, but they would increase it beyond that if we would allow that number to go bigger.
“Those individuals surprised me. Just the general interest, I think is quite crazy to me— how much people are really passionate about it— so much that they would put significant amounts of money to essentially say, ‘Hey, SpaceX, let us in any way, shape, or form you can,’” Burnett remarked.
Ultimately, it is no surprise that Spaced Ventures’ users are willing to go all-in on SpaceX. The private space company has already proven itself over the years, and its projects, such as Starship, have the potential to practically transform humanity into a spacefaring civilization. With this in mind, the idea of SpaceX eventually hitting a valuation well into the trillions of dollars is not too farfetched.
For now, Spaced Ventures continues to accept pledges from interested parties. When $25 million has been pledged, the equity crowdfunding platform would approach SpaceX and ask the private aerospace company if the amount can be invested. It’s almost like a bet of sorts, but one that could definitely have notable returns if it is successful.
Those interested in joining Spaced Ventures’ SpaceX initiative can click here.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads-up.
Elon Musk
Trump’s invite for Elon just reshuffled Tesla’s big Signature Delivery Event
Tesla rescheduled its final Model S farewell to May 20 after Musk joined Trump in China.
Tesla has rescheduled its Model S and Model X Signature Edition delivery event to Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after abruptly calling off the original May 12 celebration. The event will take place at Tesla’s factory at 45500 Fremont Boulevard in Fremont, California, the same location where the Model S first rolled off the line in 2012. Invitees received a follow-up email asking them to reconfirm attendance and download a new QR code ticket, with Tesla noting that all travel and accommodation expenses remain the buyer’s responsibility.
The reason behind the original cancellation came into focus the same day it was announced. President Trump invited Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, and executives from Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Citigroup, and Meta to join his trip to China this week for a summit with President Xi Jinping. The agenda covers trade, artificial intelligence, export controls, Taiwan, and the Iran war, following weeks of escalating friction between Washington and Beijing over AI technology, sanctions, and rare earth exports. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I am very much looking forward to my trip to China, an amazing Country, with a Leader, President Xi, respected by all.”
Tesla launches 200mph Model S “Gold” Signature in invite-only purchase
The vehicles at the center of all this are the last Model S and Model X units Tesla will ever build. Priced at $159,420 each, the 250 Model S and 100 Model X Signature Edition units come finished in Garnet Red with a one-year no-resale agreement, giving Tesla right of first refusal if the owner decides to sell. As Teslarati reported, the Model S defined Tesla’s early identity as a serious luxury automaker, and the Fremont factory line that built it is now being converted to manufacture Optimus humanoid robots.
Musk’s inclusion in the China delegation drew attention given his very public relationship with Trump, and the invitation signals the two have moved past and past grievances. Trump originally brought Musk on to lead the Department of Government Efficiency following his inauguration, and despite a sharp public dispute in mid-2025, the two have appeared together repeatedly in recent months. A seat on the China trip, the most diplomatically consequential visit of Trump’s current term, puts Musk back at the table on U.S. economic policy at a moment when Tesla’s China revenue remains one of the company’s most important financial pillars.
Tesla has launched a new solution to a rare but relevant Supercharger problem with a new Virtual Waitlist, a remedy that will solve sequencing confusion when there is a line to charge at one of the company’s locations.
Teslarati reported on what we called the Virtual Queue last month. In rare occurrences, there were physical altercations at Superchargers when someone might have cut in line to charge. Tesla started to develop some sort of system that would resolve this issue, and now it is finally rolling it out.
Tesla launches solution to end Supercharger fights once and for all
It will start with a Pilot Program, and Tesla is calling it the ‘Waitlist.’
Announced on May 11 on the official TeslaCharging X account, the pilot program is currently active at sites in Los Gatos, Mountain View, and San Francisco in California, as well as San Jose, CA, and the Bronx, NY (East Gun Hill Road). Drivers are encouraged to share feedback directly through the Tesla app to refine the system before a potential broader rollout.
We’re now testing a new waitlist feature at 5 Supercharger sites. Share feedback through the Tesla app to help us make it better.
– Los Gatos, CA – Los Gatos Boulevard
– Mountain View, CA – El Monte Avenue
– San Francisco, CA – Lombard Street
– San Jose, CA – Saratoga Avenue
-… pic.twitter.com/epTVzpJxgW— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) May 11, 2026
Tesla released the video above to showcase the feature, which automatically joins the waitlist when your vehicle has the Supercharger with the wait as the destination in the navigation. There is also a notification that lets you know your place in line.
In this specific example, the video shows that the wait is less than five minutes, and that there are two cars ahead of the one in the video:
Credit: Tesla
Having a wait at a Supercharger is relatively rare, but it does happen. It is even more frequent now that there are more EVs allowed to use the Supercharger Network. Those non-Tesla EVs can also join the queue, as Tesla added in its social media release of the pilot program that they can join the waitlist using the Tesla app.
The release of this program should help alleviate the rare risk of incidents at Superchargers. Tesla will expand this program as it sees fit, and it gathers valuable data and reviews from users.
Investor's Corner
Tesla Optimus is already benefiting investors, top Wall Street firm says
Piper Sandler has updated its detailed valuation model for Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), concluding that at recent share prices around $400–$420, investors are essentially acquiring the company’s ambitious Optimus humanoid robot project at no extra cost.
Tesla Optimus is already benefiting investors from a fiscal standpoint, at least that is what Alexander Potter at Piper Sandler, a top Wall Street firm covering the company, says.
Piper Sandler has updated its detailed valuation model for Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), concluding that at recent share prices around $400–$420, investors are essentially acquiring the company’s ambitious Optimus humanoid robot project at no extra cost.
Analyst Alexander Potter, in the firm’s latest “Definitive Guide to Investing in Tesla,” built a comprehensive framework covering 17 separate product lines.
This granular approach values Tesla’s core businesses—including electric vehicles, energy storage, Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, in-house insurance, Supercharging network, and a standalone robotaxi operation—at approximately $400 per share, without assigning any value to Optimus or related inference-as-a-service opportunities.
“At $400/share, we think investors can buy Optimus for ‘free,’” Potter stated in the note. Piper Sandler maintained its Overweight rating on Tesla shares and a $500 price target, which implicitly attributes roughly $100 per share to the robot-related businesses— a figure the analyst views as potentially conservative.
The updated model incorporates elements often overlooked by other sell-side analysts, such as detailed forecasts for Tesla’s insurance operations, Supercharger revenue, and a distinct valuation for the robotaxi business separate from FSD software licensing. It also accounts for Tesla’s 2025 CEO compensation plan for the first time.
Potter acknowledged that his estimates for 2026 and 2027 fall below Wall Street consensus, citing factors like declining deliveries from certain discontinued models and reduced regulatory credit income.
However, he expressed limited concern, noting that traditional vehicle delivery metrics are expected to matter less over time as FSD subscriber growth and robotaxi deployment metrics gain prominence. On Optimus specifically, Potter suggested the humanoid robot program, combined with inference services, “arguably will be worth more than Tesla’s other businesses combined,” though the firm has not yet produced formal long-term forecasts for these segments.
Tesla shares have traded near the $400 range in recent sessions, reflecting ongoing investor focus on the company’s autonomous driving progress and expansion into robotics and AI. The Optimus project remains in early development stages, with Tesla aiming to deploy the robots initially for internal factory tasks before broader commercial applications.
This Piper Sandler analysis highlights the growing emphasis among some investors and analysts on Tesla’s long-term technology platform potential beyond its current automotive and energy businesses.
As with any forward-looking valuation, outcomes will depend on execution timelines, technological breakthroughs, regulatory approvals for autonomous systems, and market adoption of humanoid robotics—areas that carry significant uncertainty and execution risk.
The note underscores a common theme in Tesla coverage: differing views on how to quantify emerging high-growth opportunities like robotics within the company’s overall enterprise value. Investors are advised to consider their own risk tolerance and conduct thorough due diligence regarding these speculative elements.
Trump’s invite for Elon just reshuffled Tesla’s big Signature Delivery Event
Tesla launches its solution to rare but relevant Supercharger problem
