SpaceX’s Big Day: A Historic Starship Launch, a Tesla Merger Under Scrutiny, and a $74 Billion AI Bet

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) has three pretty important things going on at once -- some good, some not-so-good.

First, sometime after 5:45 p.m. ET, the company will launch its Starship rocket. It will then try to catch both stages -- the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage -- with the arms of the launch tower at Starbase, Texas.

Second, just yesterday, the company announced plans to spend more than $74 billion on two new AI supercomputing campuses in Texas and Arizona.

And third, Bloomberg reported this morning that while merger talks with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) are moving along, the newly elected Attorney General of Texas said that any merger would face "tremendous scrutiny" from his office.

SpaceX Starship launch: first attempt to catch both stages

Here's the plan: soon after liftoff, the rocket separates. Starship will then continue on, heading for orbit, while the booster returns to Earth, aiming for a Starbase catch about 6.5 minutes after takeoff.

After reaching orbit, Starship will circle the Earth 14 times over more than 22 hours while it deploys a string of spacecraft -- 26 of the company's newest Starlink V3 satellites. Then, Starship heads back to Earth for its own catch attempt sometime around 4:15 p.m. ET Saturday.

If successful, this would be a first on both counts. While SpaceX has caught previous versions of the Super Heavy booster, it's yet to do so with the newest iteration. But all eyes will be on Starship, which has never been caught in any capacity.

Musk said on the October earnings call that success was "more likely than not."

SpaceX AI supercomputing campuses planned in Texas and Arizona

The $74 billion SpaceX said it plans to spend will be spread out over two sites; the first and smaller of the two will be attached to Starbase, Texas. A hearing notice shows the company proposing to build and run its own natural gas power station on about 444 acres, so it doesn't plan to draw from the public grid. SpaceX puts the initial construction phases there at more than $24 billion.

The bigger of the two -- planned for $50 billion -- will be located in Cochise County, Arizona, with nine buildings spread across 747 acres. The company says it could total 6 gigawatts of compute -- an absolutely massive amount -- and that it intends to work with local electric co-ops to manage costs, claiming rate payers could see their bills reduced.

Not everyone is convinced: a petition with 2,400 signatures is asking the county to deny the permit.

SpaceX-Tesla merger could face tougher scrutiny in Texas

Bloomberg reported that talks are progressing, with a formal agreement possible in December or early 2027. The potential deal has been a catalyst for SpaceX stock, but as excited as some investors are, any agreement will need to get past regulators.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

That looks like it might be a tougher sell than expected after the recent midterm elections in Texas, where Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson has vowed to investigate Musk and his business dealings in Texas. On Thursday, he made it clear that his office is not taking the merger talk lightly, telling Bloomberg that "any merger of companies of that consequence warrants tremendous scrutiny."

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Space Exploration Technologies and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.