Posted on 09/19/2026 5:16:07 PM PDT by SmokingJoe
BREAKING: The FCC accepted SpaceX’s 100,000-satellite Starlink Gen3 application for filing.
Each V3 satellite is designed for up to 1 Tbps downlink, 160 Gbps uplink and six 400 Gbps space lasers. Starship launches will add ~20× the capacity of Falcon 9 launches of V2 satellites.
(Excerpt) Read more at x.com ...
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Glad I snagged those 15 SPCX shares at IPO price.
The FCC accepted SpaceX’s application for filing on September 18
SpaceX is requesting authority to deploy up to 100,000 Gen3 satellites across two very-low-Earth-orbit altitude groups:
• 323–327.5 km
• 473–477.5 km
• Multiple orbital inclinations from 26° to 96.9°
the scale is insane
SpaceX is planning an entirely different scale of satellite internet...with the ambition to deliver far more capacity and lower-latency connectivity around the world
Gen1 built Starlink
Gen2 scaled it
Gen3 is aiming at an entirely different scale
I’m not sure a lot of investors are really grasping how big of a moat SPCX has right now. There is nobody in the US who is even remotely close to the capabilities as SPCX, including NASA. China may or may not have some capability, but it is doubtful they are even close. So, I expect China will have to up their espionage game and steal more.
So honestly, I understand SPCX is spending a lot right now and not yet turning the income wheel commensurately at the moment, but it is hard for me to not see SPCX hitting near $300 and then beyond.
The only downside I foresee is the off chance that a Democrat administration follows Trump (heaven forbid) but a Democrat administration will surely try to take a wrecking ball to SPCX and TSLA.
Das be why Dey built da Starship…
They broke ground already on the Louisiana Spaceport. That scale and proposed tempo of that operation is staggering.
Because that scale is needed for AI data centers in space.
Lots of empty buildings on earth in 10-20 years. Probably turn ‘em into mega-mosques.
Glad I snagged those 15 SPCX shares at IPO price.
It hit $108 six weeks ago, now $153. Big jump in six weeks. Getting in at $122 was good.
Agreed, and while outlets like Yahoo Financial and their subordinate free-lance reporters, hate Musk/SPCX/TSLA, and almost always throw shade, I do think SPCX very well could be the next Alphabet, Amazon, Apple or similar.
I have 13 shares with a cost basis of about $132 per. Very satisfied.
“SPCX very well could be the next Alphabet, Amazon, Apple or similar.”
My thinking, too. I bought the shares as Christmas gifts for the kids, spouses, and grandkid. Thought it would be a fun Christmas present.
This is very big news.
Hugh and Series, even.
This. Nevertheless, news never is the driver of share price. The huge entities/individuals already know what is going to happen and have already made their moves. If you get in at a good price, you're just lucky. Technical analysis can get you a little bit of an edge, but it is just a very little. Prove me wrong.
The economics never caught the idea. The network cost on the order of $5–7 billion to design, build, and launch on expendable rockets. Handsets ran about $3,000; calls cost several dollars a minute; the phones were bulky and needed a clear view of the sky. Break-even required hundreds of thousands of subscribers. By early 1999 Iridium had only about 10,000. Terrestrial cellular had filled in the cities and travel routes its target customers actually used. In August 1999 the company filed one of the era’s largest bankruptcies.
That was not the end of the hardware. After Motorola nearly de-orbited the fleet, a buyer group acquired the assets for about $25 million, shed most of the debt, slashed operating costs, and rebuilt around government, maritime, aviation, and industrial users. Iridium survived as a profitable L-band niche: small devices, polar coverage, weather-robust links. The original consumer-phone business did not.
Iridium was, in that sense, early. It proved that a LEO constellation could serve the whole planet. What it could not do was pay for that constellation on single-use rockets and a luxury voice tariff. Launch was a one-shot commercial purchase. Satellites were custom and expensive. The design was locked in for years while the ground market moved.
Elon Musk singularly drove SpaceX to change the cost side and to vertically integrate. He treated the booster as reusable hardware, not disposable fireworks, and wrapped rockets, satellites, user terminals, and the network into one company. Falcon 9 landings and rapid reuse made it possible to fly dozens of mass-produced satellites per mission at internal cost. Starlink then used that line to sell broadband rather than voice minutes: home and enterprise internet, ships, aircraft, remote sites. Thousands of satellites, monthly pricing, and iterated dishes replaced a 66-satellite phone network billed by the minute. Starship is the same bet at larger scale.
After Iridium flopped with Moto backing, I figured the whole idea of an economical LEO constellation was dead. Musk's ability to create a vision and execute is astonishing. Whoever would have anticipated one man doing that?
Iridium launched 66 satellites altogether. Starlink today has about 11,000 operational. The U.S. has authorized about 19,408 — a modified first-generation grant of 4,408 plus 15,000 Gen2 satellites. Still waiting on the FCC: SpaceX’s Gen2 application was for 29,988 satellites.
SpaceX filed for a Gen3 / V3 constellation of up to 100,000 satellites in early July 2026. On 18 September 2026 the FCC accepted the application for filing — meaning the paperwork is complete enough to go on public notice and enter review (that is not approval). Gen2 was treated the same way: SpaceX asked for nearly 30,000, and the FCC has so far authorized 15,000, with the rest deferred.
I bought at $113. Wish I had bought more.
Of course you’re right, but what really struck me is that some mega investors have placed insane money in SPCX. For example, it is my understanding that Harvard put all, or almost all of its portfolio into SPCX. Cathy Wood (with a grain of salt) has been putting tens of millions into it. Other big boys, who escape me at the moment, have also quietly added big positions.
So yeah, the little retail guy is hard-pressed to make anything in the market, but it appears to me that some big whales are dropping serious money here.
I have almost $60k work of astrophotography gear in my little observatory. 100,000 low orbit satellites will really put the kibosh on streak free photos. Software can remove many of those streaks.
I bought $20k work of SPCX at IPO. Down now, but I expect it will climb and climb high enough for daughter to enjoy.
Looks like my stock value is going to increase.
We just had 4 years of the horrid Biden regime, and all that happened was Musk became much more powerful and far richer, despite all the best efforts of the DEI African American women in the Biden DOJ who even tried to order Musk/SpaceX to hire Haitian migrants.
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