SpaceX

Investor Peter Thiel suggests Elon Musk has shifted focus from the political vision of Mars colonization to a purely technological endeavor, stating Musk “stopped believing in Mars” as a political solution in 2024. While Musk still champions interstellar expansion for civilizational survival, his approach is now seen as more engineering-centric. SpaceX continues its Starship development for Mars missions, with robots planned for surface exploration by 2027.

Hurun’s 2025 Global Unicorn Index reveals record-breaking growth, with 1,523 privately held companies valued over $1 billion. The US leads with nearly 50% of the unicorns, followed by China. Software & services dominate, particularly in fintech and AI. SpaceX takes the top spot, followed by ByteDance and OpenAI, highlighting trends in space exploration and artificial intelligence. AI-related unicorns are particularly prominent, with a combined valuation of nearly $1 trillion.

A SpaceX Starship prototype exploded during a pre-flight static fire test, causing significant damage and raising concerns about the project’s timeline. The incident, the fourth major explosion this year, follows previous failures including fuel leaks, engine issues, and payload deployment problems. SpaceX confirmed the explosion, stating all personnel are safe and an investigation into the root cause is underway, potentially involving pressure vessel failures.

Following Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s public disagreement, the fallout continues. The White House is reviewing SpaceX’s multi-billion dollar contracts with the Department of Defense and NASA. This includes assessing SpaceX’s role in missile defense systems. The government is preparing potential retaliatory measures, giving it options should the political situation worsen despite Musk’s retracted threat to retire SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.

Donald Trump confirmed a dispute with Elon Musk, stemming from Musk’s opposition to Trump’s proposed tax cuts and EV subsidy reductions. While Trump hinted at potential actions against Tesla (but supporting Starlink), both exchanged personal attacks before Trump expressed well wishes. Musk responded with a red heart on X, potentially signaling a desire to de-escalate tensions, suggesting a shift from recent public disagreements.

Elon Musk reversed his decision to retire SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft shortly after threatening to do so, following disagreements with former President Trump. The Dragon is crucial for NASA’s ISS missions and commercial space travel. The U-turn came after Musk received feedback. The Dragon spacecraft is integral to NASA’s operations, transporting crew and cargo to the ISS, a service critical until 2030.

SpaceX’s Starship suffered another setback during its ninth test flight. The Super Heavy booster exploded during its descent, and the Starship lost control during re-entry, leading to its destruction over the Indian Ocean. This failed mission, aiming to test re-entry, landing, and reusability, follows previous failures and highlights the complexity of Starship’s development. Key objectives such as thermal protection verification and controlled splashdown were not achieved.

Elon Musk estimates Earth has only 10% (500M years) of its lifespan left as the Sun’s expansion threatens habitability. He positions Mars colonization through SpaceX’s Starship as humanity’s critical “insurance policy,” investing $10B+ from Tesla/SX into infrastructure and closed-loop life systems. Critics question feasibility, but aligning with NASA’s Artemis and Blue Origin’s initiatives, Musk’s timeline merges technical progress with existential urgency, challenging civilization to secure its future against cosmic uncertainty through actionable aerospace milestones.