SpaceX signs another major AI computing power contract; CFO says ARR (Average Revenue) is expected to reach $100 billion by the end of the year; first space computing satellite to be launched next year.

SpaceX is accelerating its efforts to turn its AI computing business into a new growth engine.

On Thursday, September 10th, Eastern Time, SpaceX Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Bret Johnsen revealed at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference 2026 that SpaceX signed another AI computing power hosting agreement earlier this month, which will bring in approximately $1.1 billion in revenue per month starting December 1st, or approximately $13.3 billion annually.

Johnsen, who did not disclose customer names, said SpaceX is confident of reaching its $100 billion annualized revenue (ARR) target by the end of this year, based on December revenue annualized.

According to Johnsen, SpaceX’s core advantage is not a single business, but the vertical integration of rockets, satellites, communication networks and AI computing power and models: using Starship to reduce the cost of entering space, using ground-based AI computing power to generate cash flow, and then further sending computing power into orbit.

Huge computing power orders are being placed one after another.

This new order is not SpaceX's first major computing power deal recently. In July, the company signed a six-month, $6.7 billion computing power agreement; the client was not disclosed, but some analysts believe it may be related to the U.S. Department of Defense.

In addition, SpaceX has signed multi-year computing power agreements with Anthropic, Alphabet, and Reflection AI. Anthropic will pay SpaceX approximately $1.25 billion per month until May 2029; Google will pay approximately $920 million per month starting this October until June 2029. Google's previously disclosed agreement involves approximately 110,000 Nvidia GPUs.

However, Johnsen also cautioned that most of SpaceX's computing power contracts are not fully locked in, and almost all allow for early termination after several months. This is because SpaceX's own AI products also require significant computing power, and the company is unwilling to limit its business expansion by leasing out computing power long-term.

Starship to launch its first orbital computing power next year, accelerating commercialization

Johnsen stated that SpaceX plans to launch its first orbital computing satellites next year and scale up the program around 2028.

He believes that as Starship's reusability continues to improve, the decline in launch costs may bring the economics of orbital computing power and terrestrial data centers to a "crossroads" around next year. Unlike terrestrial data centers, which are constantly facing cost pressures from electricity, cooling, and land, SpaceX is betting that as the costs of rockets, satellites, and solar systems decrease, the cost curve for space computing may continue to shift downward.

At the same time, Starship itself will also enter the commercialization stage.

Johnsen revealed that the 14th flight, expected later this month, will be the first Starship mission to generate revenue, and is planned to carry a mass-produced V3 Starlink satellite.

SpaceX aims to achieve the recovery of Starship's first and second stage boosters later this year; if all goes well, it hopes to further improve the reusability of both stages next year. SpaceX hopes that the high-frequency, low-cost launch of Starship will provide a common infrastructure for services such as Starlink, AI computing power, and future orbital computing.

Regarding ground-based computing power, SpaceX expects its deployment to exceed 2GW by the end of this year, and further expand to 5GW to 10GW next year. Johnsen stated that the company is "more confident" in achieving its $100 billion ARR target, and that AI computing power, Starlink, and future orbital computing will collectively form SpaceX's new growth curve.

Johnsen also revealed that the next generation of direct-connect mobile satellites will be launched in 2027, with the goal of launching services in the first half of 2028 and upgrading from the current SMS and lightweight voice capabilities to "full 5G quality" services.

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