Maye Musk said she would travel to space with her son, Elon Musk, if he requested it, though the nearly 80-year-old supermodel expressed reservations about the physical comfort of such a journey. Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2026 in March, Musk addressed questions about participating in a SpaceX mission, noting that while she is willing to go "wherever he wants me to go," she doubts that mission planners would select a woman in her 80s for such a demanding endeavor. Her comments highlight the intersection of personal willingness and the rigorous physiological standards required for near-term lunar missions, which SpaceX estimates are roughly five years away.

SpaceX’s Lunar Timeline and Selection Criteria

Musk noted that SpaceX’s current focus is on missions to the Moon rather than Mars, citing faster timelines for lunar objectives. She observed that younger individuals are likely better suited for these future missions because the company’s broader ambition involves establishing a self-sustaining city beyond Earth. "They would want the younger people to go because they want to establish a city there," she said, referencing plans she had read about on X, the social media platform owned by her son.

The discussion underscores the operational shift at SpaceX from experimental launches to sustained human presence. While Musk personally expressed openness to the journey, her assessment aligns with the company’s strategic need for long-term settlers capable of enduring the rigors of off-world colonization. This distinction between short-term exploratory flights and long-term settlement requirements remains central to SpaceX’s public communications regarding crew selection.

Comfort Concerns and Physical Demands

Addressing the physical realities of spaceflight, Musk joked about the discomfort of commercial aviation compared to rocket travel. "I flew in last night in business class, and it’s uncomfortable," she said. "Can you imagine being in a rocket?" She added that she believes she needs more comfort than what a rocket journey currently offers, drawing laughter from the audience. These remarks reflect a growing public interest in the passenger experience of commercial spaceflight, even as the industry remains focused on safety and reliability.

SpaceX’s Operational Goals and 2028 Target

SpaceX’s leadership has outlined specific milestones leading up to human lunar landings. During the company’s first quarterly results call as a public entity, Elon Musk emphasized that Starship must become "super reliable" before carrying humans. He indicated that a higher launch cadence could help the vehicle meet human-flight safety standards by the end of 2027.

President and COO Gwynne Shotwell highlighted that in-orbit propellant transfer remains critical to these lunar ambitions. The company plans an uncrewed lunar cargo mission following Artemis III, with the goal of putting "boots on the Moon" in 2028. This timeline represents a significant acceleration compared to previous estimates for Mars colonization, which Musk previously suggested would take 20 years or more.

Key Milestones and Statements

What the Numbers Show

The divergence between SpaceX’s lunar timeline (2028) and its Mars timeline (20+ years) suggests a strategic prioritization of near-term, achievable milestones to maintain momentum and investor confidence. By focusing on the Moon first, SpaceX can leverage existing NASA partnerships (Artemis program) and test Starship’s reliability in a closer, more accessible environment before committing to the significantly higher risks and costs of interplanetary travel. Maye Musk’s comments, while personal, inadvertently highlight this strategic pivot: the immediate future of space travel is not about casual tourism for all ages, but about establishing infrastructure with a workforce capable of long-term habitation.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp (NASDAQ: SPCX) shares fell 12.08% to $110.19 on Wednesday after second-quarter results revealed that surging artificial intelligence expenditures are overshadowing strong top-line growth. The company reported revenue of $7.81 billion, nearly doubling from $4.07 billion in the prior year period and exceeding the $6.93 billion consensus estimate. Despite the revenue beat and a narrower-than-expected loss per share of nine cents versus an estimated 24 cent loss, investors reacted negatively to deteriorating unit economics and massive capital outlays totaling $18.37 billion.

The financial performance was driven by robust growth in the Connectivity and AI segments. Starlink revenue climbed 66% to $4.29 billion as subscribers doubled to 12 million. The AI segment surged 247% to $2.56 billion, while the Space segment advanced 29% to $962 million. However, the net loss for the quarter totaled $143 million, contributing to a cumulative first-half loss of $2 billion. Total quarterly expenditures ballooned to more than six times the year-ago level, with AI investment responsible for the overwhelming majority of this expansion.

Operational Headwinds

Despite year-over-year growth, sequential trends revealed underlying pressures. Starlink’s average revenue per user (ARPU) held at $66 per month in the second quarter, flat from the first quarter but down roughly 22% from the $85 recorded a year earlier. This compression raises concerns about per-user economics as the platform expands into less affluent markets. Additionally, revenue moved lower on a sequential basis from the second half of 2025 into the first half of 2026, undercutting the narrative of uninterrupted momentum.

The Space segment faced operational challenges, including a quarter-over-quarter decline in Falcon launches and mass delivered to orbit. This pullback weighed on the division, which generated an operating loss of $542 million. Meanwhile, the AI segment added another $1.26 billion in operating losses. Connectivity remained the only division contributing positively to the bottom line, with an operating profit of $1.66 billion.

Capital Intensity and Neocloud Strategy

Total capital spending reached $18.37 billion, including $15.83 billion dedicated to AI infrastructure. This expenditure underscores the strategic pivot toward artificial intelligence following the absorption of xAI in February. CEO Elon Musk defended the outlay, stating, "We’re building AI compute capacity at scale faster than anyone else, we believe, and we’re significantly improving our AI models."

Bob O’Donnell, president and chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, told Bloomberg that much of SpaceX’s AI infrastructure is leased to outside customers rather than reserved for its own models. "They’re becoming as much of a neocloud company as they are an AI company," O’Donnell said, noting that revenue from selling Grok models "hasn’t been as big" as what OpenAI and Anthropic generate. This strategy turns excess capacity into revenue while the Grok business develops, acting as a hedge against competitors staying ahead in the model race.

Related Parties and Market Sentiment

Related-party transactions with Tesla Inc. continued to deepen. SpaceX purchased $295 million of Tesla Megapack batteries in the second quarter, bringing first-half Megapack purchases to $329 million. Cumulatively, SpaceX had bought $506 million of these batteries and $131 million of Cybertrucks by the end of 2025. These deals reflect the intertwined nature of Musk’s companies, with Tesla stating that Megapacks provide reliable data-center power.

Merger speculation between Tesla and SpaceX continues to influence sentiment. Artemis Investment Management’s Harry Eastwood stated that a merger "makes sense," while Wedbush’s Dan Ives placed the odds at 80% to 90%. However, skepticism remains regarding dilution, with Future Fund’s Gary Black estimating a potential 28% dilution for Tesla shareholders. Regulatory hurdles, particularly concerning Tesla’s China operations and SpaceX’s U.S. defense contracts, also pose complications.

What the Numbers Show

The divergence between Starlink’s profitability and the AI segment’s losses illustrates a dual-track growth strategy. While Starlink contributes stable cash flow, the AI unit burns through capital at a rapid pace. The $15.83 billion in AI infrastructure spending represents a substantial portion of total capital expenditure, signaling a long-term bet on compute capacity over short-term earnings. Furthermore, the decline in ARPU alongside rising subscriber counts suggests a trade-off between market penetration and margin preservation.