The company's growth strategy depends almost entirely on Starship becoming fully operational.
Na tarde de uma sexta-feira no sul do Texas, a SpaceX lançou o Starship em mais um teste de alto risco — um voo que durou pouco mais de uma hora e terminou com falhas parciais, mas que a empresa apresentou como avanço. O momento não é casual: na mesma semana, a SpaceX protocolou seu pedido de IPO, buscando captar até 75 bilhões de dólares e alcançar uma avaliação de 2 trilhões. Por trás dos números e das chamas do foguete, está uma aposta civilizacional — satélites, Lua, Marte — que ainda depende de uma tecnologia que ainda não funciona plenamente.
- O foguete mais poderoso já construído decolou do Texas, mas o propulsor perdeu o controle na descida e um dos motores da nave apagou antes do previsto — sinais de que o caminho ainda é longo.
- A SpaceX precisa urgentemente que o Starship funcione: sem ele, os planos de satélites, missões lunares, colonização de Marte e o próprio IPO perdem sustentação.
- O pedido de abertura de capital, protocolado na mesma semana do lançamento, busca captar 75 bilhões de dólares e pode tornar Elon Musk o primeiro trilionário da história.
- Os documentos do IPO revelam perdas de 4,28 bilhões de dólares e uma dependência quase total do Starship para justificar uma avaliação de 2 trilhões — maior do que a Tesla e quase toda a S&P 500.
- A empresa enquadra cada falha como aprendizado e cada teste como progresso, apostando que os investidores vejam os prejuízos atuais como o custo necessário de uma tecnologia transformadora.
Na tarde de sexta-feira, o Starship decolou do Starbase, no sul do Texas, às 17h30 no horário local — um dia depois do previsto, após uma falha hidráulica na torre de lançamento. O sistema de dois estágios, composto pelo propulsor Super Heavy e pela nave Starship, permaneceu em voo por pouco mais de uma hora. Mas o teste não correu como planejado.
Minutos após a separação, o Super Heavy não conseguiu realizar a queima de motores prevista para sua descida controlada sobre o Golfo do México. Sem esse impulso, o propulsor perdeu estabilidade e caiu em espiral. A SpaceX perdeu contato com ele antes do impacto, sugerindo que pode ter se desintegrado. Ao mesmo tempo, um dos seis motores do Starship desligou prematuramente durante a subida.
Ainda assim, a empresa destacou avanços reais: o Starship atual é praticamente um projeto novo, com motores reformulados, plataforma de lançamento renovada e capacidade de carga quase três vezes maior que a versão anterior. A bordo, vinte satélites simulados e dois protótipos de tecnologia de internet. Comparado aos testes anteriores — que terminaram em explosões — este foi apresentado como um passo à frente.
O lançamento coincidiu com um momento decisivo nos negócios. Na mesma semana, a SpaceX protocolou seu pedido de IPO, com planos de captar até 75 bilhões de dólares e uma avaliação potencial de 2 trilhões — o que colocaria a empresa acima da Tesla e de quase todas as companhias do S&P 500. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley e outros grandes bancos lideram a oferta, com estreia possível já em junho.
Os documentos revelam um quadro financeiro tenso: prejuízo de 4,28 bilhões de dólares e uma estratégia de crescimento que depende quase inteiramente do Starship. A empresa planeja lançar até um milhão de satélites para formar centros de dados de inteligência artificial no espaço, tem contratos de 4 bilhões de dólares com a NASA para missões lunares e mantém a ambição de colonizar Marte. O Starlink, negócio de internet via satélite que hoje sustenta a maior parte da receita da SpaceX, também depende do foguete para escalar.
O teste de sexta-feira era uma oportunidade de mostrar aos investidores que a empresa pode cumprir o que promete. As falhas parciais indicam que essa demonstração ainda está incompleta.
SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on Friday afternoon from its Texas facility, pushing forward with a high-stakes test that the company desperately needs to succeed. The two-stage system—a Super Heavy booster paired with the Starship spacecraft—lifted off from Starbase in South Texas at 5:30 p.m. local time, after being delayed the previous day due to a mechanical failure in the launch tower's hydraulic pin system. The flight lasted just over an hour, but it did not go cleanly.
Minutes after separation, the Super Heavy booster failed to execute a planned engine burn as it began its return to the Gulf of Mexico. Without that thrust, it lost control and tumbled toward the water. Before impact, SpaceX lost communication with the booster entirely, suggesting it may have broken apart on descent. Meanwhile, one of the Starship's six engines shut down prematurely while the vehicle was still climbing to altitude. The company had hoped to land the booster in the ocean as part of the test sequence, but that did not happen.
Yet SpaceX framed the flight as progress. The Starship itself represents a nearly complete redesign of the earlier prototype—new engines, a new launch platform, nearly triple the cargo capacity of its predecessor. The vehicle carried twenty simulator satellites and two modified test satellites designed to validate future internet technology. The company emphasized that this version demonstrated improvements in control systems, motor performance, structural integrity, and stability compared to previous attempts, which had ended in explosions.
The timing of this launch is not accidental. SpaceX filed its formal IPO paperwork this same week, seeking to raise as much as $75 billion and potentially valuing the company at $2 trillion. That valuation would make SpaceX worth more than nearly every company in the S&P 500 and would exceed Tesla, Musk's electric vehicle manufacturer. It would also, by some calculations, make Musk the world's first trillionaire. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are leading the offering, with Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase also participating. The company has filed to go public as soon as June.
The IPO documents reveal the stakes. SpaceX reported a loss of $4.28 billion and acknowledged that its growth strategy depends almost entirely on Starship becoming fully operational. The company plans to launch up to one million satellites into orbit to serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space. It holds $4 billion in contracts with NASA to ferry astronauts to the lunar surface and has its own ambitions to establish a moon base. Starship is also essential to Musk's ultimate goal: establishing a human colony on Mars. The rocket is also the backbone of Starlink, SpaceX's rapidly growing satellite internet business, which currently generates most of the company's revenue.
Financially, the picture is mixed. In the quarter ending March 31, SpaceX's space segment generated $619 million in revenue but posted an operating loss of $662 million. A year earlier, the same segment had brought in $4 billion in revenue against a $657 million operating loss. The company is betting that this test, and future successful Starship flights, will convince investors that those losses represent necessary investment in a transformative technology.
SpaceX already commands the commercial space launch market and is a primary supplier to both NASA and the Pentagon. The company's private valuation had already reached $1.25 trillion after Musk's acquisition of the AI startup xAI earlier this year. If the IPO succeeds at the proposed $2 trillion valuation, SpaceX will have vaulted into the ranks of the world's most valuable corporations—all while still developing the core technology that justifies that valuation. The Starship test on Friday was meant to show that the company can deliver on those promises. The partial failures suggest the work is far from finished.
Citas Notables
Our capacity to execute our growth strategy depends heavily on Starship— SpaceX, in IPO prospectus
The hydraulic pin that keeps the tower arm in place did not retract— Elon Musk, explaining the previous day's launch delay
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does this particular test matter so much more than the previous ones?
Because SpaceX is about to ask the public to invest tens of billions of dollars based on promises that depend entirely on Starship working. The company has been losing money on its space operations for years. This launch is the evidence they need to show investors that those losses will eventually turn into returns.
But the booster failed. One engine shut down. How is that a success?
It's a success in the sense that the Starship itself stayed in the air and the overall system demonstrated improvements over previous attempts. But you're right—it's a qualified success. The booster loss is a real problem they'll need to solve before they can claim the technology is ready for the missions they're promising.
What missions are we talking about?
Launching a million satellites for AI data centers in orbit. Carrying astronauts to the moon. Eventually getting humans to Mars. And doing all of it cheaper than anyone else can. That's the bet Musk is making with this IPO.
And if Starship doesn't work?
Then SpaceX is a company with massive losses, no clear path to profitability, and a $2 trillion valuation that has no foundation. The IPO would likely not happen, or it would happen at a much lower price.
How much money are they actually trying to raise?
Up to $75 billion. But the real prize is the valuation—if they hit $2 trillion, Musk becomes the world's first trillionaire, at least on paper. That's what the market is really pricing in.
Is there any chance this doesn't work out?
Absolutely. Starship has a history of explosive failures. Seven months passed between this test and the last one. The company is moving fast, but space is unforgiving. One successful test doesn't mean the technology is ready for the missions they're describing.