SpaceX Day June 1, 2026

01 / Agenda Detail

Five sessions. Five lenses.

10:30 ET

50 min · Fireside Q&A

Session 01

The Musk SpaceX Conglomerate & Investment Debate

The February 2026 xAI acquisition created a $1.25 trillion conglomerate spanning launch, broadband, AI, and social media. Investors are buying a vertically integrated empire concentrated under a founder simultaneously running Tesla, The Boring Company, Neuralink, and holding senior US government influence.

Optimist

Cross-entity synergies — Starlink-xAI compute, X data flywheel for Grok, government access — create a flywheel no competitor can replicate.

Cynic

A roll-up of cash-hungry assets at an inflated valuation. Key-man concentration the market has never before underwritten.

Ross Gerber

Co-Founder & CEO, Gerber Kawasaki

Leads investment operations and advises clients at Gerber Kawasaki. A prominent media investor and regular commentator on CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, and Fox.

Matt Oguz

Founding Partner & CIO, Venture Science

Founding Partner and CIO of Venture Science, managing Strata, the firm's evergreen fund combining venture capital with selective IPO and public-market participation across AI, quantum, space, and healthcare. His track record includes Circle (NYSE: CRCL), PsiQuantum, Ripple, and Zipline. TechCrunch columnist and frequent commentator on CNBC and Bloomberg.

Daniel Maguire

Research Analyst, ARK Invest

Primarily supports ARK's Autonomous Technology & Robotics strategy. Former roles include Asset & Wealth Management at PwC.

11:30 ET

50 min · Fireside Q&A

Session 02

SpaceX 2026 / 2027 Core Launch Business

Falcon 9 captured ~87% of US orbital launches in 2024. Starlink generated an estimated $11.8B in 2025 revenue. Together they produced $15-16B revenue and $8B profit. This session examines durability through 2026-2027: New Glenn, Neutron, Kuiper, government dependency, and the operational risk of the Falcon-to-Starship transition.

Optimist

Launch cost advantage is structural and compounding. The base business alone justifies a multi-hundred-billion valuation.

Cynic

Margins are at the peak. New Glenn, Neutron, and Kuiper will erode share. Starship transition introduces real revenue risk.

Jim Cantrell

CEO, Phantom Space

Founding member of SpaceX and veteran engineer with contributions to 46+ satellite missions. Founder of multiple space companies including Phantom Space.

Christopher Kunstadter

Founder & President, Triton Space LLC

Advisory and consulting firm specializing in space risk and insurance, space industry analytics, and space policy evaluation.

Ram Riojas

CEO, Delta Defense Group

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel with 30 years of experience in space launch, missile defense, cyber, and national security operations.

Mark Bitterman

VP Government Affairs, Portal Space Systems

Previously held leadership roles at Stratolaunch, ULA, SpaceX, and Orbital Sciences.

Oscar Garcia

Chairman & CEO, InterFlight Global

Aerospace advisory and strategy firm serving aviation, space, government, and commercial clients worldwide.

12:30 ET

50 min · Fireside Q&A

Session 03

Data Centers in Space

SpaceX has filed with the FCC to launch up to one million satellites configured as orbital data centers powered by solar. The thesis: space-based panels generate 8-10x more power than on Earth; AI training is not latency-sensitive. If Starship reduces costs to ~$100/kg, orbital compute could undercut terrestrial hyperscalers.

Optimist

Earth's power and water constraints structurally limit terrestrial AI data centers. SpaceX is the only company with the launch infrastructure to make orbital work.

Cynic

Thermal, radiation, and reliability engineering is unsolved at scale. A narrative device for the IPO, not a credible 2030 revenue stream.

Matthew Friters

VP of Investment Analysis, Stony Lonesome VC | CDO/COO, Lonestar Data Holdings

Founder of the U.S. Space Force's Service Cyber Component and 20-year veteran of space, cyber, and national security operations.

Earl J. Dodd

HPC & AI Practice Lead, WWT

Part of WWT's Global Solutions & Architecture team, leading the HPC and AI business practice with a focus on high-performance, supercomputing, and accelerated computing for commercial and government clients.

Jim McGregor

Founder & Principal Analyst, TIRIAS Research

35+ years in aerospace, semiconductors, and embedded systems. Advises on AI, chips, and emerging tech strategy.

Stephen Leete

Senior Satellite Systems Engineer, Northrop Grumman

Former NASA mission architect with 35+ years in commercial and science space systems.

13:30 ET

50 min · Fireside Q&A

Session 04

xAI

xAI was founded in 2023 to compete with OpenAI and Google DeepMind. It develops Grok, runs the Colossus supercomputer in Memphis (~2 GW), owns X, and holds a $200M DoD contract with Grok deployed inside the Pentagon. At acquisition, xAI was valued at $250B — about 20% of the combined entity.

Optimist

Grok has unique training data via X, government distribution via DoD, and the world's most ambitious compute infrastructure.

Cynic

Grok is a fast-follower with no model moat. X is a regulatory liability. The $250B valuation is acquisition arbitrage, not analysis.

Balaji Gopinath

Co-Founder, Kubera Venture Capital

Focused on early-stage AI/ML and deep tech. Built 10+ accelerators and advised Fortune 500 companies on AI adoption and strategy.

Allen Roush

Lead AI Researcher, Thoughtworks

Previously held senior technical and AI leadership roles at Oracle and Intel.

Alan Messer

Strategic AI Advisor, InnovationShift

Consultancy focused on self-driving and IoT providers. Sees the combination of Intelligent Services and Automotive as a major AI inflection point. Prior leadership at Samsung TV, Smart Homes, and pervasive computing initiatives.

14:30 ET

50 min · Fireside Q&A

Session 05

The End-Game Space Economy

The global space economy is projected at $1 trillion by 2034. The long-term business extends beyond launch and broadband — lunar infrastructure, in-space manufacturing, asteroid resource extraction, point-to-point Earth transport, ISS-replacement. The implicit question: how much of the IPO valuation depends on revenue streams that don't yet exist?

Optimist

The space economy is at a 1990s-telecom inflection point. Vertical integration positions SpaceX for a disproportionate share.

Cynic

End-game markets are speculative on a 10-15 year horizon. Most won't materially contribute revenue before 2035.

BWG Moderator

Greg Irwin

Long-horizon thematic

Top questions

Where does the space economy actually make money in 2035? Across the major areas of possibility (launch, communications/Starlink-class, Earth observation, government services, stations, lunar) — which businesses are real vs. which are high-risk venture bets?
Which "next frontier" opportunities survive and which don't? Lunar resource extraction, in-space manufacturing, point-to-point Earth transport, asteroid mining, orbital data centers. Let's test the next tier of opportunities against practical obstacles to scope which will be businesses in the 2030s.
How durable is the government as the anchor tenant? NASA (Artemis/HLS), DoD/Space Force, and allied governments underwrite a huge share of the commercial space opportunity. How stable is that funding through administration changes, budget cycles, and the ISS-to-commercial-station transition? What happens to valuations if government demand softens?
Does the commercial LEO transition happen, and who will capture the value? Axiom, Vast, Voyager/Starlab, Blue Origin's Orbital Reef. Realistic timeline for ISS replacement, who's fundable, and what it means for SpaceX cargo/crew revenue beyond 2030.
How does China's ambitions factor in for Western investors? Beyond the rhetoric, is cislunar competition a tailwind (more government spending, allied industrial policy) or a risk (bifurcated markets, export controls, capital flight from dual-use names)? How should a Western investor consider it?
What's the single biggest gap between the optimistic case and reality? Name one wrong assumption in the 10-year space economy narrative.

Mike Gold

President, Redwire Space

President of Redwire Space, overseeing the company's space business across the U.S. and Europe, including spacecraft systems, microgravity R&D, robotics, avionics, and orbital infrastructure.

Dave Cavossa

President, Commercial Space Federation

Longtime space and satellite industry executive with experience in commercial space, government affairs, and satellite operations.

Natalia Larrea Brito

Senior Director for Space, AIAA

Provides strategic leadership on the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' space initiatives and priorities.

Courtney Stadd

Founder & President, Capitol Alliance Solutions

Founder and President of Capitol Alliance Solutions, LLC, a Washington DC-based management consulting firm whose clients include a wide range of pioneering commercial space actors.

BWG Global
SpaceX Day. Five Sessions on the Largest IPO in History

Why this matters.

Five sessions. Five lenses.