GreenergyDaily

Jun. 16, 2026

SpaceX shares surged 10% in premarket trading on Tuesday, extending gains after the company's record-breaking IPO on Friday.

While best known for its space ambitions, Elon Musk's rocket company is increasingly being viewed as a potential disruptor to an entirely different industry: utilities and the terrestrial power system.

The catalyst is Musk's long-term vision of deploying up to one million satellites that could eventually function as a vast, orbiting AI data-center network. If successful, the concept could tap abundant solar energy in space while avoiding many of the power shortages, grid constraints and permitting challenges facing terrestrial data centers.

A cited analyst told Barron's that the concept is unlikely to become cost-competitive with terrestrial alternatives for at least 10 to 15 years. Yet SpaceX's blockbuster $75 billion IPO has provided fresh capital to accelerate development.

The article pointed to utilities, pipeline operators and power-equipment manufacturers as potential long-term losers from the shift toward orbital computing.

By contrast, the near-term outlook for the energy sector remains supportive.

The AI industry's power shortage is still firmly earthbound, continuing to drive demand for energy infrastructure, including modular power generation and natural gas systems.