SpaceX Stock Drops 13% on AI Capex Shock as Rocket Lab Flies Its 92nd Electron and Viasat Keeps Equatys Alive

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The briefing

SpaceX's first quarter as a public company was defined by its capital spending. Revenue rose 92% to $7.8 billion, but capital expenditures jumped sixfold to $18.4 billion, with CFO Bret Johnsen saying $15.8 billion of that went to AI infrastructure. Shares fell 13.6% on Wednesday and closed Tuesday just above $125, below the $135 IPO price, as investors weighed heavy spending and an insider lockup expiration set for later in the week. Elon Musk pulled his $1 trillion annual revenue target forward to 2030 from 2031, and Johnsen framed the AI build as a sub-one-year payback.

Rocket Lab put its 92nd Electron in the air from New Zealand with an eighth QPS-SAR satellite for iQPS, with another 10 iQPS launches on the backlog. Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg told investors the Equatys direct-to-device joint venture with Space42 is still in the plan, with satellite financing described as the next step, keeping a third D2D constellation alongside SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile on the table.

Beyond the SpaceX print, capital and contracts kept flowing. Shandong-based Orienspace opened IPO coaching and closed a pre-C round of several hundred million yuan for its reusable Gravity-2 rocket, backed by Vertex Capital, Shanghai STVC, AVIC Honghua and Yuanyou Ruize. AST SpaceMobile put BlueBird 11, 12 and 13 into low Earth orbit on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, extending its D2D constellation. Graham Corporation added $43 million in submarine and turbomachinery defense work, and L3Harris moved its Viper Shield electronic warfare system into two-ship F-16C and F-16D flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base, another step toward operational deliveries.

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The headlines

SpaceX stock drops 13.6% as AI capex swamps first public quarter

SpaceX

SpaceX shares fell 13.6% on Wednesday, the day after the company posted its first public quarterly results and disclosed a sixfold jump in capital expenditures to $18.4 billion, with CFO Bret Johnsen saying $15.8 billion went to AI infrastructure. Revenue rose 92% to $7.8 billion and the net loss narrowed to $541 million, but the stock closed Tuesday just above $125, below its $135 IPO price. Elon Musk pulled his $1 trillion annual revenue target forward to 2030 from 2031, and Johnsen said AI compute deployments are running at less than a one-year payback. An insider lockup expiration is due later in the week.

Rocket Lab flies 92nd Electron with 8th iQPS SAR satellite

RKLB

Rocket Lab launched Electron on 'The Grain Goddess Provides' mission from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 9:18 p.m. NZST on August 6, deploying the QPS-SAR-13 satellite for Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space. It was the 13th Electron of the year, the 92nd overall, and the eighth deployment of a QPS-SAR satellite with 100% mission success for iQPS. Another 10 dedicated iQPS launches remain on Electron's backlog through 2030, and Rocket Lab said the next launch, 'The Lightning God Defends', is scheduled later this month from LC-1.

Viasat says Equatys D2D joint venture with Space42 still on, financing is next

SpaceX VSAT

Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg told investors on August 4 that the company remains committed to its Equatys direct-to-device joint venture with UAE-based Space42, and that a constellation could be co-owned by other parties. Dankberg said interest in Equatys holds steady, even as SpaceX's D2D service and AST SpaceMobile continue their build-outs. He described satellite financing as the next step for the program.

AST SpaceMobile launches BlueBird 11, 12 and 13 on Falcon 9

SpaceX ASTS

AST SpaceMobile lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 3:42 a.m. EDT on August 5 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, deploying its BlueBird 11, 12 and 13 satellites into low Earth orbit. The launch continues the buildout of the company's direct-to-device constellation.

China's Orienspace opens IPO coaching and closes pre-C round for Gravity-2

Shandong-based launch company Orienspace kicked off IPO coaching preparations and closed a pre-C funding round worth several hundred million yuan on August 5, with participation from Vertex Capital, Shanghai STVC, AVIC Honghua and Yuanyou Ruize. Proceeds are earmarked for its two-stage reusable Gravity-2 rocket, a 70-meter, 4.2-meter diameter vehicle capable of 21,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit expended, or 17,000 kilograms recovered, powered by nine Force-110 kerosene-liquid-oxygen engines. Orienspace has raised more than 1.7 billion yuan across five rounds and is targeting a Gravity-2 debut in Q4.

L3Harris flies Viper Shield in F-16 two-ship testing at Edwards

LHX

L3Harris Technologies said its Viper Shield electronic warfare system completed a series of two-ship flights at Edwards Air Force Base, with F-16C and F-16D models flying together for the first time with Viper Shield hardware. Tests validated detection, identification and counter-response against modern electromagnetic threats while checking interoperability with the aircraft's avionics. L3Harris positions Viper Shield as the only in-production EW system sized for the range of F-16 blocks, offered as an internal system or a self-contained pod.

[ 03 / +36 / -10 ]

Market pulse

Archived snapshot from this edition. Prices and moves are not live.

Gainers+36

Decliners-10

Big mover LUNR+11.9%

York Space Systems shares were down about 10.9% in the delayed provider snapshot, alongside a company disclosure that Chief Accounting Officer Brian D. Frantz will step in as Interim CFO on August 14 while York searches for a permanent finance chief.

Asset	Snapshot	Move
LUNRIntuitive Machines	$19.65	+11.9%
SPCEVirgin Galactic	$3.345	+6.5%
GLWCorning	$167.42	+5.6%
YSSYork Space Systems	$10.26	-10.9%
SIDUSidus Space	$2.5	-1.6%
TSATTelesat	$52.21	-0.8%

[ 04 / 6 in window ]

Filings

8-K

Graham Corporation · 8-K

2026-08-06 · Graham Corporation issued a press release with results for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2026, and posted supplemental sales, orders and backlog tables on its website.

10-Q

Ducommun Incorporated · 10-Q

2026-08-06 · Ducommun Incorporated filed its 10-Q for the quarter ended July 4, 2026, with segment detail across military and space, commercial aerospace, and industrial end markets.

8-K

Ducommun Incorporated · 8-K

2026-08-06 · Ducommun Incorporated furnished a press release announcing results of operations and financial condition on August 6.

8-K

Karman Holdings Inc. · 8-K

2026-08-06 · Karman Holdings entered a Fifth Amendment to its Credit Agreement on August 3, refinancing $763.96 million of term loans to cut the applicable rate by 50 basis points to SOFR plus 2.25% and lowering pricing on its revolving credit facility by 50 basis points across the leverage grid, with the top level now SOFR plus 2.00%.

8-K

Spire Global, Inc. · 8-K

2026-08-05 · Spire Global disclosed that an ICC arbitral tribunal issued a Final Award on July 31 of approximately $12.4 million in the company's favor against NorthStar Earth & Space, dismissing NorthStar's $45.9 million breach and fraud claims and granting Spire's counterclaims including its $4.5 million promissory note, with the payment immediately due.

8-K

Satellogic Inc. · 8-K

2026-08-05 · Satellogic released its second-quarter 2026 financial results for the period ended June 30 in a furnished press release.

[ End of Issue 049 ]

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