SPCX Stock In Focus — SpaceX Pushes Starship Launch To September 28, Reportedly Weighs Startup-Data Buys for AI

• Starship’s Flight 14 will be the launch vehicle’s first revenue-generating mission, carrying production Starlink satellites into orbit.
• Separately, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that SpaceX has held internal talks about buying customer and operational information from troubled or defunct startups for AI model training purposes.
• The talks might not result in a deal, the report noted.

Shares of SpaceX (SPCX) gained 3% on Thursday despite the company pushing back the date of Starship’s next flight, as investors focused on reports of its efforts to ramp up artificial intelligence capabilities.  

SpaceX said that Starship’s Flight 14 is now targeted for Monday, September 28, pending regulatory approval. The company had previously slated the launch for September 22.

Why Flight 14 Still Matters

Starship’s flight 14 will be the launch vehicle’s first revenue-generating mission, carrying production Starlink satellites into orbit, SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen told investors at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia + Technology Conference last week.

The launch will mark the vehicle's shift from test flights to commercial operations after years of development efforts worth billions. Flight 13, the previous test flight, had already delivered demonstration satellites, relit an engine in space, and achieved a precise splashdown of the upper stage.

SpaceX’s Efforts To Ramp AI Capabilities

Separately, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that SpaceX has held internal talks about buying customer and operational information from troubled or defunct startups for AI model training purposes as it seeks to rival Anthropic and OpenAI. The talks might not result in a deal, the report noted.

The report added that the approach would be similar to Google’s bid to purchase business data from Spirit Airlines for $10 million to train its AI models after the latter wound down operations and filed for bankruptcy. Unions have opposed the deal, arguing employee records remain sensitive. The deal is not fully closed yet.  

How Did SPCX Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SPCX rose from ‘neutral’ to ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained at ‘normal’ levels.

A Stocktwits user expressed optimism for a successful upcoming Starship flight, taking the stock as high as $200.

SPCX stock is currently trading at around $155, above its IPO price of $135 but below its highest levels of around $225, hit in the days after the firm went public in June. 

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