TLDR
- SpaceX (SPCX) stock jumped 7% on Friday after a week of successful rocket launches.
- The company launched four astronauts to the ISS, a Google satellite, and a classified NRO payload within 13 hours.
- Starship reached Earth orbit for the first time, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites.
- Connectivity (Starlink) brought in $4.3 billion in revenue last quarter with a $1.7 billion profit.
- SpaceX’s AI compute unit posted a $1.3 billion loss but could earn up to $3.4 billion a month from new deals.
SpaceX stock (SPCX) rose 7% on Friday. The jump came after the company completed three separate rocket launches in under 13 hours.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX
The busiest stretch started Thursday with NASA’s Crew-13 mission. A Falcon 9 rocket carried four astronauts to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral.
The Dragon capsule reached the station in under eight hours. That’s the fastest trip to the ISS by an American spacecraft on record.
SpaceX director Julianna Scheiman credited good timing. She said the station’s position lined up well for a quick approach.
The crew will stay aboard the ISS for about six months. The Falcon 9 booster landed safely and can fly again.
A Big Week for Launches
The second launch was Transporter-18, a rideshare mission carrying 130 commercial payloads. One of those was Google’s Project Suncatcher, a prototype testing AI computing in space.
Teams complete three Falcon launches, four first stage landings at four landing zones in Florida and California, and docking Dragon to the @Space_Station for our 21st human spaceflight in under 13 hours pic.twitter.com/a1gA9b8oMo
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 2, 2026
Google wants to see how its TPU chips handle the stress of spaceflight. That includes radiation and extreme temperature swings.
The booster used for this flight was flying for the 25th time. SpaceX continues to lean hard on reusable hardware.
The third launch used a Falcon Heavy rocket. It carried a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, marking the rocket’s first mission for that agency.
Both side boosters landed back in Florida. Across all three missions, SpaceX recovered four boosters total.
Earlier in the week, Starship also reached Earth orbit for the first time. It deployed all 26 Starlink V3 satellites on board despite one engine failing during ascent.
Starship is central to SpaceX’s plan to grow Starlink’s capacity. A working Starship should also lower the cost of putting satellites into orbit.
SpaceX executive Jon Edwards called it an extraordinary week on X. He pointed to the four different vehicles flown: Starship, Dragon, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy.
The Business Behind the Headlines
Connectivity, which includes Starlink, remains SpaceX’s top earner. The segment posted $4.3 billion in revenue and $1.7 billion in operating profit last quarter.
Space, the launch business, told a different story. It reported a $542 million operating loss on $962 million in revenue.
That loss is partly an accounting quirk. When SpaceX launches its own Starlink satellites, the Space unit doesn’t record revenue for the job.
Instead, Connectivity absorbs those launch costs and spreads them out through depreciation. That makes Starlink look more profitable and Launch look worse than it really is.
SpaceX’s AI unit is the newest piece of the puzzle. It posted a $1.3 billion loss on $2.6 billion in sales last quarter.
That picture is changing fast. Deals with Anthropic, Alphabet, and other customers to rent out compute power could bring in up to $3.4 billion a month once fully running.
Getting there won’t be cheap. The AI unit alone spent $15.8 billion on capital expenditures last quarter.
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