New to this? Read it in simple words
- SpaceX’s AI unit made $7.6 billion in three months, more than Starlink.
- Most of it is rent from companies that use SpaceX’s AI computers.
- SpaceX spent $16.4 billion on AI equipment in the same quarter.
- Elon Musk says Tesla and SpaceX are looking at a merger. Nothing is agreed.
- Operating profit
- What a business earns from its normal work, before interest and taxes.
- Quarter
- A period of three months that companies use to report their results.
- Special committee
- A small group of independent board members who judge a deal where a leader has a conflict.
SpaceX, the rocket and Starlink company, has been listed on the stock market since this year. Its AI unit, Super Intelligence, includes the work of xAI and its Grok chatbot. SpaceX reported its results for July to September on Tuesday, October 20.
The numbers
Revenue was $14.6 billion, up 161% from $5.6 billion a year earlier, SpaceX’s filing says. Reuters reports that analysts polled by LSEG had expected $12.72 billion.
The AI unit’s revenue was $7.6 billion, 830% more than a year earlier and 195% more than in the second quarter. Connectivity, mainly Starlink, made $5.2 billion, up 69%.
The AI unit made an operating profit of $431 million, after a loss of $1.7 billion a year earlier. SpaceX as a whole made a net profit of $4.4 billion, after a net loss of $1.1 billion.
SpaceX’s own figures for July to September 2026.
Where the AI money comes from
SpaceX says the jump came mainly from new cloud services agreements, its purchase of the coding tool Cursor and more use of Grok. Reuters reports that most of it is rent for computing capacity in its data centres.
The filing names no customers. Reuters reports that they include Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI.
The growth is expensive. SpaceX spent $19.6 billion on equipment in the quarter, up from $6.9 billion a year earlier, and $16.4 billion of it went to the AI unit. Reuters reports that SpaceX expects to spend at about this level in the near future.
A possible merger with Tesla
On the call with investors, Elon Musk said the boards of SpaceX and Tesla have set up special committees to look at a merger. Musk runs both companies.
The committees are made of independent directors, and Musk said he is not on them because he has a conflict of interest. He said no terms have been agreed and that a deal is not certain.
Sources
Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.
- 1Primary source · October 20, 2026Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1: third quarter 2026 results SpaceX (SEC filing)
- 2Research · October 20, 2026SpaceX quarterly revenue jumps, led by rental income for data-center capacity Reuters (via NBC News)
- 3Research · October 20, 2026SpaceX posts first operating profit as public company as AI revenue nearly triples Fortune
- 4Research · October 20, 2026SpaceX and Tesla boards form special committees to review merger TechCrunch
The figures come from SpaceX’s filing with the SEC. The customer names and the spending outlook come from Reuters, and the merger committees from what Musk said on the call.
SpaceX’s revenue jumped 161% past forecasts, and its AI unit turned profitable, though AI equipment spending was huge. How we rate the mood