SpaceX delivered a quarter that beat expectations on paper, but not enough to put investors completely at ease. The Elon Musk-led company reported a smaller-than-expected loss for the three months through June as revenue soared to $7.8 billion, powered by rapid growth in its Starlink satellite internet business.At the same time, the company dramatically stepped up spending on artificial intelligence, infrastructure and research, a strategy Musk argued would speed up its path to becoming a trillion-dollar-a-year revenue company.SpaceX reported a loss of $541 million, or 9 cents per share, less than half of what Wall Street analysts had forecast. Revenue surged more than 90% from a year earlier.The Elon Musk-led company said it was on track to achieve a $100 billion annual revenue run rate by December. It also projected that investments in AI computing would pay for themselves in under a year, plans to deploy at least 1,000 next-generation V3 Starlink satellites over the next 12 months, and outlined ambitions to expand into services that compete with mobile phone providers.

Starlink keeps the business connected

The biggest boost came from SpaceX’s connectivity business, where revenue climbed 66% compared with the same period last year. The growth was fuelled by Starlink, whose subscriber base doubled to 12 million.“It’s not out of the question that at some point, Starlink will deliver a majority of the world’s internet,” Musk said in call with analysts.While revenue accelerated, so did spending.Infrastructure and research and development expenditure jumped to $18 billion, up from less than $3 billion a year ago. Chief financial officer Bret Johnsen said investors should expect capital expenditure to remain at similar levels over the next two quarters.Musk defended the aggressive investment, saying the additional spending would help SpaceX hit annual revenue of $1 trillion a year sooner than previously expected.According to Musk, the company is now on track to reach that milestone in 2030 instead of 2031.

Market cheers, then hesitates

SpaceX shares climbed 9% during Tuesday’s regular trading session before surrendering most of those gains in after-hours trade.The stock has lost roughly half its value since peaking in June, shortly after the company’s initial public offering, which briefly made Musk the world’s first trillionaire.Investors remain concerned that Musk may have oversold the company’s prospects for both future space travel and its AI chatbot, Grok. Another source of uncertainty is the upcoming expiry of the lock-up provision, which will allow insiders to begin selling shares.From Thursday, more than 900 million shares will be released for trading, more than doubling the stock currently available in the market. It is the first of several tranches that will become eligible for trading over the coming months.The decline in SpaceX shares, along with losses in Tesla stock, has reduced Musk’s wealth to $783 billion, according to Forbes.

All eyes on Starship

The earnings call also turned the spotlight on Starship, the massive rocket that sits at the centre of SpaceX’s long-term ambitions.The spacecraft successfully deployed satellites during a test flight late last month. Musk said the next major test is expected at the end of this month, when the company will attempt to demonstrate Starship’s reusability by catching both the spacecraft and its booster with mechanical arms as they return to base.NASA hopes to use Starship to send astronauts back to the Moon in the near future.“We want to put boots on the ground — boots on the moon — in 2028,” said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.SpaceX also operates the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.