October 21, 2026
The revenues of SpaceX, owned by businessman Elon Musk, recorded a remarkable jump of 161% during the third quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations, with major support from the steady growth of the satellite Internet unit “Starlink” and the significant expansion in the artificial intelligence business sector.
Data collected by the London Stock Exchange Group, and reported by Reuters, showed that third-quarter revenues amounted to $14.6 billion, exceeding market estimates that had expected $12.72 billion.
“Starlink” and its broader communications operations constituted the company’s primary financial engine, while the satellite Internet unit continued to expand its subscriber base, supported by the launch of new batches of satellites, and the development of services dedicated to consumers, the commercial and government sectors, in addition to the aviation and maritime sectors.
In terms of artificial intelligence, which represents the company’s largest investment area, SpaceX relies to achieve its profits on leasing data center capacity to prominent developers such as Anthropic, Alphabet’s Google, and Reflection AI, in a business model similar to cloud service providers. These activities included XAI’s Grok program, the X social media platform, and rapidly growing data centers. However, the company’s artificial intelligence programs still lag behind its most prominent competitors, such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, and the artificial intelligence unit recorded significant operating losses, prompting the company to warn that it needs continued investments to achieve sustainable profits.
In the space transportation sector, the next-generation reusable rocket system “Starship” has not yet entered commercial service, but it is expected to enable the deployment of higher-bandwidth Starlink satellites, as well as the establishment of artificial intelligence-based computing infrastructure in orbit. SpaceX intends to increase the launch rate of “Starship” to 456 flights annually, and the company’s ability to easily convert rockets into reusable vehicles is a key pillar of its long-term strategy, although the first orbital test flight for “Starship” last month ended early due to an engine problem.
