SpaceX Balances Pentagon Payloads, an $8 Billion Spectrum Bet and a Fresh $275 Price Target
Published on 10/17/2026 at 12:30 | Editorial boerse-global.de
SpaceX pulled off a classified mission for the U.S. Space Force from California on Friday, sending the USSF-481 payload to orbit while its Falcon-9 first stage came back down for a routine landing. The launch capped a week in which the company's dual identity — military launch provider and aspiring commercial telecom — came into unusually sharp focus.
Just days earlier, a Falcon 9 had carried a Dragon capsule loaded with more than 6,000 pounds of supplies and research gear to the International Space Station for NASA's CRS-35 mission. That cargo run followed an October 10 flight that placed 21 data-relay satellites in orbit for the Space Development Agency of the U.S. Space Force, itself delayed by five days. Ship 40, meanwhile, returned to Starbase in Texas for inspection of its heat shield, engines and avionics.
The cadence is the point. What once required national agencies years of lead time now runs on something closer to a scheduled airline timetable for the U.S. military — a competitive edge that legacy aerospace contractors are struggling to match, and one that underpins reliable revenue from government programs.
Evercore Raises Its Sights
Wall Street is paying attention. On Friday, Evercore ISI analyst Kutgun Maral lifted his price target on the stock to $275 from $230 while keeping an "Outperform" rating, citing continued monetization of launch capacity and the global build-out of satellite systems. The shares closed Friday at EUR 129.96, down 1.9% on the day. The company's market capitalization stands at EUR 1,962.16 billion.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SpaceX?
Ambition on the commercial side is advancing too. SpaceX has agreed to acquire a nationwide 800-MHz spectrum portfolio from Grain Management, including 14 MHz of paired spectrum, for Starlink Mobile. Reuters characterized the deal as a decisive step for the venture, with one source putting its value at just under $8 billion. Completion depends on approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and customary closing conditions.
Starship Expansion Enters Review
Regulators are also weighing a far larger footprint for Starship. The Federal Aviation Administration has opened a public comment period ahead of an environmental impact review, prompted by SpaceX's request to expand operations at Starbase to as many as 456 launches and 912 landings per year. The agency stressed that the move does not yet constitute approval of the requested flight rates.
Geopolitics is proving harder to schedule than rockets. Ukrainian officials reported disruptions to missions after speed limits were applied to militarily used terminals, with Reuters reporting the cap covered services above 160 kilometers per hour. The news agency, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official, later reported that the order to slow Starshield came from the White House. President Volodymyr Zelensky said functionality had improved but was not fully restored.
The episode cuts to the core question facing investors: as a single private company becomes the backbone of orbital defense and global connectivity, how much operational power will governments be willing to hand it — and what happens to the business model when political friction intrudes?
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SpaceX Stock: New Analysis - 17 October
Fresh SpaceX information released. What's the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends.
