Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) CEO Elon Musk said over the weekend that the commercial space flight giant could prepare to build orbital data centers as soon as next year, but short seller Jim Chanos remains skeptical about the CEO’s claims.
Elon Musk’s Orbital Data Center Goal
On Saturday, Musk got into a social media back-and-forth with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on X after Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) filed a lawsuit against the AI company, saying that it had allegedly stolen trade secrets via job interviews. Musk revived his criticism of Altman, saying that he had taken scamming to “a whole new level.”
Amidst the fiery accusations, Altman retorted, saying that Musk was selling public investors the idea of orbital AI compute, questioning the practicality of the goal. Musk responded by saying that SpaceX will “start flying them next year.”
Chanos expressed skepticism about Musk’s claims. “[Narrator: This week’s 13th test flight of Starship is still not planned to reach full Earth orbit.],” the short seller said in his post on X on Sunday.
SpaceX Touts Starlink V3
SpaceX said that the upcoming 13th Starship flight test would also see over 20 Starlink V3 satellites be deployed with the test. “Starship is planned to deploy 20 satellites which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with ground stations in South Africa and the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers,” SpaceX said.
Analyst Aaron Burnett, the founder of Mach 33, an investment firm aimed at Space technology, hailed the launch as a “significant inflection in Starlink V3 ramp,” which would also translate to a “global bandwidth capacity ramp,” Burnett said via a post on X.
SpaceX also said that the satellites would provide information on the rocket’s heat shields. “Six of the satellites have been modified with a suite of cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators,” the company said. The launch is expected to take place on Thursday, July 16.
Benzinga Edge Rankings show SpaceX fails to provide a favorable price trend in the Short, Medium and Long term.
Price Action: SpaceX shares were up 0.43% to $145.92 during the after-hours session on Friday.
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