XSPC
Orbit, unlocked
SpaceX just pulled off Starship’s first orbital flight, which is kind of a big deal if your business model involves launching giant things into space without turning them into fireworks. The stock, naturally, dipped more than 2% anyway — because markets love a good milestone almost as much as they love being weird about it.
Why the launch matters
Gene Munster’s take was basically: the market is missing the point. Starship isn’t just a bigger rocket for bragging rights; it’s a potential cheat code for getting satellites into orbit cheaper and faster. SpaceX says a mature Starship could haul as many as 60 V3 Starlink satellites per mission, which would be a massive step up from Falcon 9.
The Starlink angle
This mission also delivered 26 production Starlink V3 satellites, and that’s where the investor story gets juicier. SpaceX says each V3 satellite can add about 1 terabit per second of downlink capacity, and the company’s own math suggests this batch could add roughly 26 Tbps to the network.
If Munster is right, faster speeds and new pricing tiers could turn Starlink into an even better cash machine. The launch wasn’t perfect — one engine shut down midflight — but the rocket still made orbit, which is the kind of “good enough” that can still move a space company from science project to infrastructure.
Big picture: the market may have yawned, but if Starship keeps working, SpaceX could be building the airplane while everyone else is still arguing about the runway.