The US space enterprise is desperately waiting for Starship—will it finally deliver?

**TL;DR:** The US space enterprise is desperately waiting for Starship—will it finally deliver?

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These days, one would be forgiven for forgetting that SpaceX is, at its core, a rocket company. Consider the company's mega deals over the last year. SpaceX paid $17 billion—more than it has spent developing every one of its rockets—to EchoStar for wireless spectrum to boost its Starlink network. It revealed plans to launch 1 million orbital data centers. SpaceX merged with xAI in a deal that valued Elon Musk's artificial intelligence firm at $250 billion, and it announced plans to become a major computer chip manufacturer .

And earlier this month, SpaceX sold an enormous amount of ground-based compute to Anthropic. 5 or $2 trillion. That's trillion, with a t . Read full article Comments

Source: Ars Technica Features

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Last updated: June 16, 2026.

Additional context: early-cycle stories often look bigger in headlines than in day-to-day impact. The useful move is to identify the smallest set of facts that would change your decision, then wait for those facts to land.

Additional context: early-cycle stories often look bigger in headlines than in day-to-day impact. The useful move is to identify the smallest set of facts that would change your decision, then wait for those facts to land.

Additional context: early-cycle stories often look bigger in headlines than in day-to-day impact. The useful move is to identify the smallest set of facts that would change your decision, then wait for those facts to land.