Elon Musk says his goal Is for SpaceX to be worth more than the Earth

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has long heavily relied on selling science fiction to investors. He wants to pollute our planet’s orbit - already brimming with junk - with gigantic orbital data centres. Then, he wants to settle on the surface of the Moon. Ultimately, he wants to make humanity an interplanetary species by building a city on Mars with the help of an enormous fleet of Starship spacecraft, leaving a planet reeling from a climate crisis behind.

It’s the kind of lofty - and, according to his many critics, delusional - thinking that turned him into a Trillionaire. And, as SpaceX continues to struggle selling investors on Musk’s lofty imagination, the mercurial CEO is already conjuring new visions to keep the hype train chugging. According to a recent tweet, he believes that “SpaceX will be worth more than the rest of Earth if we accomplish our goals.”

Musk was responding to one of his supporters questioning SpaceX’s recent AI compute deal with Anthropic, arguing that it was giving too much money to a competitor.

To Musk, it all comes down to our ability to fully harness the power of the Sun. As illustrated by the Kardashev scale - a method devised by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev that measures a civilisation’s level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy it can channel - Musk believes we’re not even close to unlocking our full potential as a species.

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By utilising all that untapped solar energy, Musk thinks SpaceX could eclipse the Earth’s entire GDP of around 100 trillion dollars - if you’re willing to entertain his outrageously lofty vision, that is.

Back in January, Musk argued that “space-based industries will vastly exceed the value of all of Earth, given that you could harness roughly 100,000 times more energy than Earth and still be using less than a millionth of the Sun’s energy!”

Sceptics will differ. He also claimed that “due to autonomy, Tesla is worth more than the rest of the auto industry,” while his EV maker’s struggling Optimus robot will increase “Earth GDP by an order of magnitude.”

It’s the kind of wishful thinking his entire business empire is teetering on top of lately. For years now, tech leaders have been trying to sell us on a utopian “age of abundance,” in which manual labour is a thing of the past and everybody enjoys a high standard of living.

However, reality tells a dramatically different story. Despite Musk’s repeated promises for over a decade, in one telling example, Tesla vehicles are still far from reliably driving themselves without constant oversight.

Even investors are having trouble buying into his dreams of training AI models from space. SpaceX’s shares initially rallied following a blockbuster IPO last month, but have been in decline ever since. The muted enthusiasm highlights persistent doubts over a multitrillion dollar valuation for a company that lost a staggering $5 billion last year.

In short, his claim that SpaceX will somehow become worth more than the entire global economy should be taken with an astronomical amount of salt. It also assumes that SpaceX is operating within a vacuum.

Considering the major strides China’s space program is making as of late, that’s far from a given.

First published on Fanatical Futurist on 10 July 2026.

311 Intelligence

What this means

Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit

The big shift is that SpaceX is now being valued on space energy and computing, not just launches. Musk's claim rests on harnessing far more of the Sun's energy in space. Our Starburst data urges patience: we rate Space Based Energy Platforms a Watch technology, with a first product expected in 2035 and wide use by 2055. That is a long way beyond the horizon most investors work to.

What it means by sector.

• Investors: SpaceX's shares have fallen since its IPO and the company lost $5 billion last year. Valuations built on decades-long visions carry a high risk of disappointment.
• AI and cloud: SpaceX's AI compute deal with Anthropic and its orbital data centre plans show compute is now part of the space story. We track Off-World Data Storage as a Watch trend, with wide use expected by 2050.
• Governments: the article notes that China's space programme is making major strides, so SpaceX is not operating in a vacuum.

What to do now.

• Separate near-term space services, such as launch and connectivity, from long-term visions when you assess space suppliers or investments.
• Ask for clear timelines and evidence before building plans around orbital data centres or space-based energy.
• Watch China's space programme as closely as SpaceX, since competition will shape prices and access.

The Starburst technologies behind this story

From the 311 Technology Starburst (first product, expected wide use and readiness):

Technology	Category	First product	Wide use	Action	TRL
Space Based Energy Platforms	Energy	2035	2055	Watch	4
Space Based Manufacturing	Advanced Manufacturing	2023	2057	Watch	7
Low Earth Orbit Platforms	Connectivity	1968	2030	Prepare	9

And the trends they feed, from the 311 Trends Starburst:

Trend	Wide use	Action
Off-World Data Storage	2050	Watch
Reusable Rockets	2028	Prepare
Privatisation of Space	2020	Act now

How this moves the trend

Musk's visions have grown steadily bigger. In 2016 he wanted his space internet venture to fund a city on Mars, and in 2025 Google and SpaceX hatched plans to build AI factories in space. In 2026 SpaceX revealed its first orbital data centre, and its IPO made Musk the world's first Trillionaire. Claiming SpaceX could outvalue Earth is the next step up.

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• The 311 Starburst Centre: every technology and trend above, with timelines and readiness.
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