Elon Musk posted on X on Oct. 8 that he sees a path for SpaceX to be worth orders of magnitude more than the current Earth economy. The company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., trades under Nasdaq ticker SPCX and works on rockets, satellite communications, and artificial intelligence. Musk added on Oct. 9 that a valuation above $1 quadrillion, or $1,000 trillion, now looks possible to him. He said it once seemed impossible, but he did not say it was likely.
The Comparison Is Tricky
The comparison depends on what is being measured. The International Monetary Fund estimated global economic output in 2026 at about $126.3 trillion. A company valuation is the total value investors assign to its shares. So the two numbers are not directly comparable. One order of magnitude means ten times larger. Musk’s language suggests something much bigger than that, but it remains a projection. He first made a similar conditional claim on July 9 during a discussion about an AI computing deal with Anthropic, the company behind Claude. That exchange tied the idea to SpaceX meeting its long-term goals.
Solar Power and Starship
Musk’s economic argument leans on solar energy in space. In a June 8 discussion filed with the SEC, he described solar-powered AI computing in orbit. The idea is to put computers on satellites and let them process AI workloads. He listed three needs: launch capacity, solar power, and computing chips. Lower launch costs would make this more practical because SpaceX could send more equipment into orbit. The plan depends on Starship, SpaceX’s rocket system, reusing both stages with short turnaround times. On Sept. 28, Starship completed its first orbital flight and deployed 26 Starlink satellites. Musk also has talked about making solar panels and radiators on the moon. An electromagnetic launcher could then send AI satellites into space. The moon’s lower gravity and lack of atmosphere are central to that idea.
Saylor Says Bullish
Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy Inc., replied to Musk on Oct. 8 with a one-word answer: ₿ullish. The bitcoin symbol replaced the first letter. Saylor has linked SpaceX to corporate bitcoin ownership before. On June 13, he congratulated Musk on SpaceX’s public listing and grouped it with Tesla as major tech companies holding bitcoin. His Mag8 list added SpaceX to the Magnificent Seven, which includes Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla.
SpaceX’s Bitcoin Holdings
SpaceX also holds a large amount of bitcoin. Its quarterly filing showed 18,712 bitcoin as of June 30, unchanged from Dec. 31, 2025. The cost basis was $661 million. The fair value on June 30 was about $1.098 billion. That is not the main driver of Musk’s valuation talk, but it helps explain Saylor’s reaction. For now, the $1 quadrillion figure is a possible outcome in Musk’s view, not a forecast. Investors should treat it as a long-term idea with plenty of room for failure.
