SpaceX is targeting Friday morning for NROL-179, its third 2026 flight supporting the National Reconnaissance Office’s proliferated architecture constellation of intelligence satellites believed to be Starshield variants. The booster on its third flight will attempt a landing at Vandenberg’s Landing Zone 4.
Neither the NRO nor SpaceX has confirmed on the record that these are government-modified versions of the Starlink design.
Those relay satellites also support inter-satellite optical links that form part of both the NRO’s resilient communications network and the Department of War’s planned Space-Data Network.
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NASA will conduct a 2027 Earth-orbit test of successive docking between Orion and lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin to support a planned 2028 crewed moon landing. The agency expanded contracts with both companies after launch delays raised concerns about falling behind China.
Elon Musk said on X that SpaceX "closed $40B of debt for GPUs," adding that the company is investment grade and has Starlink and launch revenue, while debt markets have "almost entirely shut off" for companies without substantial revenue independent of AI data centers. In a follow-up reply, Musk said it is "primarily callable debt for GPU purchases that will arrive in Q1 and Q2" and "not a major factor this quarter." Musk did not name lenders or terms. Reuters, the FT, CNBC, Semafor and Bloomberg had earlier reported, citing unnamed sources, that SpaceX was arranging about $40 billion of debt for Nvidia chips, with Apollo and Goldman Sachs reported to be leading.
SpaceX bought $151 million in Tesla Megapack purchases during the third quarter in its latest 10-Q filing. The purchases bring the company's year-to-date total to $480 million.
SpaceX reported Q3 2026 revenue of $14.6 billion, up 161% from a year earlier, and net income of $4.4 billion. On its earnings webcast, CFO Bret Johnsen said SpaceX expects Q1 2027 revenue of $33 billion to $37 billion, and CEO Elon Musk said SpaceX will try to catch Starship on Flight 15 next month, pending FAA approval.
SpaceX did not launch a Falcon 9 carrying 27 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Tuesday, when liftoff had been targeted for 4:10 p.m. PDT (7:10 p.m. EDT). SpaceX now lists the next attempt for Wednesday, Oct. 21, between 2:59 and 6:59 p.m. PDT. Earlier Tuesday, SpaceX reported $5.2 billion in third-quarter connectivity revenue and said it added 1.6 million Starlink customers.
