SpaceX told the FAA it expects to fly 10,000 launches a year, committed to a $40 billion GPU lease, and told companies building small NASA landers it will no longer sell them Moon rides. In addition, Starlink picked up easyJet, Brazil’s Vivo and Bolivia’s rural schools as new service opportunities to cap off this week.
SpaceX Stops Selling Moon Rides
SpaceX has told U.S. companies building small Moon landers for NASA that it “will no longer sell rides to the Moon,” Ars Technica reported, citing three sources. It does however, intend to keep flying existing and already signed contracts.
NASA Artemis manager Jeremy Parsons said SpaceX’s “management team is definitely committed to the lunar missions,” but called it “a fair question, especially as they have gone public” whether SpaceX would put its own profitable launches ahead of a landing.
10,000 Launches a Year
In a comment letter on the FAA’s spaceport and launch corridor request for information, SpaceX said it “anticipates conducting 10,000 launches per year itself,” according to TSN.
It called FAA air traffic control “outdated” and asked that corridor missions get airspace priority, approval within 48 hours and no airspace fees. Local groups in Louisiana have been pushing back against the Starbase facilities there, but the FAA has yet to respond to SpaceX’s statements.
Musk added on X that “10k Starship launches/year is just from Starbase Louisiana.”
A $40 Billion GPU Lease, and Anthropic’s Ceiling
SpaceX signed an Oct. 24 commitment for a GPU finance lease of about $40 billion with an Apollo-managed lessor, its 8-K shows. The same day, Anthropic’s S-1 said it agreed to spend “up to $120.5 billion” on SpaceXSI compute into 2029, about $3.1 billion a month at full capacity. That’s a ceiling: after non-cancellable periods ending in early 2027, either side can cancel on 90 days’ notice.
easyJet and Vivo Sign On
easyJet, which has never offered onboard Wi-Fi, will put Starlink on its A320, A320neo and A321neo fleet from the first half of 2027, finishing by early 2028, the airline said. In Brazil, Vivo launched Vivo Satélite, a nationwide direct-to-cell service on Starlink open to about 50 million subscribers, free for 12 months for individuals, Teletime reported.
Starlink Heads to Bolivia’s Rural Schools
Bolivia signed agreements with 85 La Paz municipalities on Oct. 20 to put Starlink in rural schools under its Aulas Conectadas program. The first phase covers 307 schools and more than 73,000 students, the Ministry of Education says, with 24 months of free service per school. The government projects 4,500 to 5,000 antennas nationwide, and hasn’t said who pays after the free period.
Florida Falcon 9 Pause
SpaceX VP of Launch Kiko Dontchev told a Cocoa Village audience on Oct. 21, “We have a six-week gap before the next Falcon 9,” Florida Today reported. The last Florida launch was Bandwagon-5 on Oct. 20, and the first Florida Starship is still targeted for the end of 2026. Background: SpaceX ends planned Falcon 9 Starlink launches from Florida.
Starship Flight 15 Slides to Nov. 12
Flight 15 now targets no earlier than Nov. 12, up from Nov. 8. Ship 42 finished its static fires and rolled back to the production site, and Musk said on X that “Starship 42 will be the first tower catch.” No FAA licence has been issued yet. Our Flight 15 and 16 tracker has the details.
Two Launches, and Falcon 9 Passes 700
Falcon 9 booster B1082 flew for the 26th time on Oct. 27 at 3:25 a.m. ET, carrying 27 Starlink satellites on Starlink 15-16 from Vandenberg and landing on Of Course I Still Love You.
B1093 flew for the 18th time on Oct. 31 at 12:04 a.m. ET, on Starlink 15-18, also from Vandenberg, landing on the same droneship. It was the 118th Falcon 9 launch of 2026.
“Congrats to the @SpaceX team on over 700 Falcon 9 flights!” Musk posted. By XFreeze’s count, Starlink 15-16 was the 700th and 15-18 the 701st.
Also This Week
- The FCC approved Amazon Leo’s purchase of Globalstar on Oct. 27, giving Starlink Mobile a well-funded U.S. direct-to-device rival. The FCC called it part of “new, robust investment” in direct-to-device. More on SpaceX’s cell-tower plans.
- The FCC named Courtney Reinhard chief of its Space Bureau on Oct. 29, SpaceNews reported.
- After a train collision in Spain, Starlink Mobile gave Orange and Telefónica customers free connectivity.
- Two standalone stories run this weekend: Starlink’s move to dynamic pricing (read it here) and the FCC’s satellite-to-phone vote [LINK WP 4783 ON PUBLISH].
Coming Up
- Starlink 15-21: no earlier than 9:21 p.m. ET Nov. 5.
- USSF-432: a Space Force Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg, targeted for Tuesday, Nov. 3, in a four-hour window opening at 8:28 p.m. ET, with a backup Nov. 4 at 8:14 p.m. ET, SpaceX says.
- Starship Flight 15: no earlier than Nov. 12.
Previously: This Week in SpaceX, Oct. 25.
