SpaceX

Operating 10,200+ Starlink satellites across 160 countries; 10 million subscribers as of February 2026

In December 2025, a newly formed Chinese state institute filed for 200,000 satellites with the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), claiming spectrum priority for the largest constellation ever proposed. Under ITU rules, early filers get priority on orbital slots and radio frequencies—buying options in the race against American dominance of low Earth orbit.

Updated Jul 6

SiriusXM replaces its aging radio satellites in orbit

Launched SXM-11 and recovered the booster

Tens of millions of people get SiriusXM through satellites, not cell towers. On the night of June 28, a SpaceX Falcon 9 carried up a 7.5-ton replacement for hardware that has been beaming radio since 2009.

Updated Jun 28

SpaceX turns its Colossus data centers into an AI compute-rental business

Selling AI compute capacity to outside companies

SpaceX is best known for rockets. As of this year, one of its largest businesses is renting out computing power. On June 22, it signed a deal with Reflection AI, a startup that has not yet released a product, to supply Nvidia chips for $150 million a month through 2029. Run its full term, the contract is worth about $6.3 billion.

Updated Jun 23

SpaceX flies first Starfall capsule to return cargo from orbit

Developer and operator of Starfall

SpaceX launched its first Starfall capsule from Cape Canaveral on June 23, 2026. The disk-shaped vehicle is built to bring up to 1,000 kilograms of cargo back from orbit and splash down in the Pacific. Until now, returning material from space meant small capsules carrying dozens of kilograms.

Updated Jun 23

U.S. builds a swarm of small spy satellites in low orbit

Builds and launches the satellites

For decades, U.S. spy satellites were a handful of expensive giants, each roughly the size of a bus and worth billions. The National Reconnaissance Office is swapping that model for a swarm of small, mass-produced spacecraft.

Updated Jun 19

SpaceX buys AI coding startup Cursor in $60 billion stock deal

Acquirer; newly public, using its shares as deal currency

SpaceX went public on June 12 in the largest stock-market debut ever. Five days later, it agreed to spend $60 billion on Cursor, an AI coding tool barely three years old.

Updated Jun 18

AST SpaceMobile races to build a phone network in space

Both AST's launch provider and its rival

Your phone needs a cell tower to work. AST SpaceMobile is trying to replace that tower with a satellite the size of a tennis court. On June 17, 2026, a SpaceX Falcon 9 carried three of them to orbit from Cape Canaveral.

Updated Jun 17

SpaceX builds out a U.S. defense satellite constellation

Primary builder and launcher of the constellation

On June 7, a Falcon 9 rose from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California carrying 23 satellites. Two were Starshield, the military version of Starlink. SpaceX said so out loud, which it rarely does.

Updated Jun 7

Commercial rideshare reshapes access to orbit

Dominant global launch provider; operates the rideshare program enabling this mission

For most of the space age, putting a satellite into orbit meant booking an entire rocket—an option available only to governments and the largest companies. SpaceX's rideshare program inverted that model: pay by the kilogram, share the ride, and launch on a schedule set by the operator, not the customer.

Updated May 31

SpaceX launches final ViaSat-3 satellite, completing global broadband constellation

Successfully returned Falcon Heavy to flight on April 29, 2026, delivering ViaSat-3 F3 to geostationary transfer orbit

SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center on April 29, 2026 at 10:13 a.m. Eastern, placing ViaSat-3 into geostationary transfer orbit. It was the rocket's first flight in 18 months and its 12th since 2018.

Updated May 31

NASA builds its next flagship space telescope to map the dark universe

Contracted to launch Roman on Falcon Heavy

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is fully built and targeting a September 2026 launch — eight months ahead of schedule. Its 300-megapixel infrared camera has a field of view 100 times wider than Hubble's and will photograph a billion galaxies and discover more than 100,000 new worlds in its first five years.

Updated May 31

SpaceX turns Falcon 9 into a Starlink assembly line — and the world starts depending on it

Filed for Nasdaq IPO at up to $2 trillion valuation; won $2.29B Starshield contract; in pricing dispute with Pentagon over Iran war drone connections

SpaceX hit 50 dedicated Starlink launches before June 2026, roughly one every four days. The constellation has 10.3 million subscribers across 160 countries, 10,191 active satellites, and $10.6 billion in 2025 revenue. Starlink is SpaceX's only profitable division and the central asset in its pending Nasdaq IPO.

Updated May 31

Blue Origin proves New Glenn booster reuse, enters the reusable heavy-lift race

Dominant launch provider; only prior company to reuse orbital boosters

Blue Origin flew a previously used New Glenn booster for the first time on April 19, 2026, becoming the second company ever to reuse an orbital-class rocket stage. The booster, 'Never Tell Me the Odds,' first flew in November 2025 and landed successfully again on the drone ship Jacklyn roughly ten minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. One engine on the expendable upper stage didn't produce enough thrust during its second burn, leaving AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 stranded in an orbit too low for the satellite's electric thrusters to correct.

Updated May 31

How NASA outsourced space trucking and built an industry that may outlive the station itself

CRS cargo provider and launch vehicle operator for Cygnus

For more than a decade, NASA has relied on private companies to haul groceries, lab equipment, and experiments to the International Space Station — a deliberate bet that commercial logistics would be cheaper and more reliable than government-built rockets. On April 11, 2026, Northrop Grumman's enlarged Cygnus XL spacecraft launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9. It delivered roughly 11,000 pounds of science cargo, including hardware for quantum physics research and therapeutic stem cell production.

Updated May 31

The race to harvest decades of space station science before the ISS falls to Earth

Primary commercial cargo carrier for ISS; demonstrated new reboost capability

For over two decades, the International Space Station has been the only place where humans can grow tissues, crystals, and cells in ways impossible on Earth. After 185 days in orbit, SpaceX's Dragon capsule undocked February 26.

Updated May 29

SpaceX Starlink becomes a weapon in Ukraine war

Force in Play

Controller of world's largest satellite internet constellation

Ukraine's military has depended on Starlink satellite internet since the first week of Russia's 2022 invasion. On February 5, 2026, SpaceX cut off Russian forces from that network, collapsing command systems and halving daily assault operations within hours.

Updated May 27

Musk merges SpaceX and xAI in record-breaking deal

Public S-1 filed mid-May 2026; IPO roadshow targets June 4; pricing June 11; Nasdaq debut June 12 under SPCX at $1.75T–$2T valuation; 2025 revenue $18.67B; 2025 net loss $4.94B

In February 2026, SpaceX bought xAI for $250 billion, the largest acquisition in corporate history. By mid-May, all 11 original xAI co-founders had left, and more than 50 SpaceXAI researchers and engineers had departed for Meta and Thinking Machines Lab.

Updated May 26

America's return to the moon

Starship development continues for future Artemis missions; no longer pacing item for Artemis III after program overhaul

No human has traveled beyond low-Earth orbit since December 1972. On January 17, 2026, NASA rolled its 322-foot Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center.

Updated May 22

SpaceX flies upgraded Starship V3 for the first time

S-1 filed with SEC on May 20; IPO roadshow begins June 8, Nasdaq pricing targeted June 12

SpaceX scrubbed the first V3 launch attempt on May 21 when a hydraulic pin on the launch tower arm failed to retract at T-40 seconds. The company repaired the fault overnight and rescheduled the debut of Booster 19 and Ship 39 for May 22 from Starbase Pad 2.

Updated May 22

First medical evacuation in ISS history

Force in Play

Conducting evacuation

NASA evacuated one crew member from the International Space Station on January 14, 2026, for a serious but stable medical condition. The SpaceX Crew Dragon carried four astronauts home six weeks early, splashing down safely off California on January 15 after 167 days in space. This ended a 25-year streak without a medical evacuation, despite predictions of one every three years.

Updated May 21

Trump demands $1.5 trillion military budget

Force in Play

Rapid iteration model adopted as Pentagon acquisition blueprint; awarded $739M Space Force contract

Trump wants to spend $1.5 trillion on defense in 2027—a jaw-dropping 66% jump from this year's $901 billion. This would be the largest single-year defense increase since the Korean War.

Updated May 19

Amazon's pending acquisition of Globalstar

Competitor and contracted launcher

A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Sunday morning carrying replacement satellites Globalstar needs to keep its mobile network alive. The same launch ticks off one of the conditions Amazon set before paying about $10.7 billion to buy the company.

Updated May 17

Rocket Lab closes a perfect 2025 by lofting iQPS’s QPS-SAR-15 — and locking in as its constellation workhorse

Alternate launch provider for multiple iQPS satellites, underscoring iQPS’s multi-provider strategy

Rocket Lab ended 2025 with another success. On Dec. 21, Electron lifted off from Māhia and placed iQPS's QPS-SAR-15 into orbit, extending a run of repeat business that positions Rocket Lab as a default launcher for constellation operators.

Updated May 15

Jared Isaacman takes NASA: a billionaire astronaut walks into a budget war

Major NASA contractor; central to Artemis lander plans and political scrutiny

One day after his 67–30 confirmation, Jared Isaacman was sworn in on Dec. 18, 2025 as NASA's 15th administrator—walking directly into a White House-driven acceleration campaign that now has his name on the clock, not just the contracts.

Updated May 15

Amazon’s Leo constellation is growing fast—just not fast enough for the FCC clock

Starlink market leader; also launching some Kuiper/Leo satellites

At 3:28 a.m. ET on December 16, ULA lit an Atlas V and pushed 27 Amazon Leo broadband satellites into orbit. It's another clean launch in a campaign that's starting to look like a metronome: stack satellites, light rocket, repeat.

Updated May 15

Defense tech startups race to public markets as Pentagon spending surges