SpaceX Share Sale
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell Sells $52 Million in Shares Ahead of Starship Flight
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SpaceX is scheduled to launch Starship Flight 14 on Sept. 28, its first attempt to reach orbit, carrying 26 next-generation Starlink satellites in a test that could become its first revenue-generating mission. The roughly 10-hour flight will assess satellite deployment, engine relighting and reentry; the ship and booster are planned to splash down instead of attempting tower catches, and the launch remains subject to change. The mission could advance SpaceX’s plans to use Starship to expand Starlink, although success is uncertain and its description as a commercial mission has been questioned. Investors are also weighing the company’s potential AI business and ambitious growth forecasts. President and COO Gwynne Shotwell sold about $52.5 million in shares under a prearranged trading plan, retaining a stake valued at roughly $830 million.
Key Points
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Flight 14 is planned to complete six orbits during its roughly 10-hour mission. SpaceX also made hardware changes intended to improve engine performance and software changes to improve engine-relight reliability, while modifying heat-shield tiles.
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The Starlink V3 satellites are rated for 1 terabyte per second of download transmission—10 times the downlink capacity of V2 minis. Analysts estimate each V3 satellite weighs nearly two tons, about three times as much as a V2 mini.
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The planned launch date coincides with the anniversary of Falcon 1’s first successful orbital flight in 2008, after three failed attempts. Elon Musk later said SpaceX probably would have gone out of business if that fourth launch had failed.
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A separate potential source of stock supply is the IPO lock-up expiration: about 328 million shares became eligible for sale on Sept. 24, and further unlocks are scheduled through June 2027.
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