Elon Musk Slams Critics Saying SpaceX Is 'Subsidized' By NASA: 'They Will Constitute Less Than 5% Of Our Revenue Next Year'

SpaceX and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk on Saturday clapped back at critics who allege that the world's richest person's space startup is "subsidized" by NASA.

Musk Calls Out Critics

Musk addressed claims regarding SpaceX and its financial relationship with NASA in a post on social media platform X.

"While I have great fondness for @NASA, they will constitute less than 5% of our revenue next year. Commercial Starlink is by far our largest contributor to revenue," he said.

He called the allegations of SpaceX being "subsidized" by NASA as "absolutely false."

While I have great fondness for @NASA, they will constitute less than 5% of our revenue next year. Commercial Starlink is by far our largest contributor to revenue.

Some people have claimed that SpaceX gets "subsidized" by NASA. This is absolutely false.

The SpaceX team won…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 6, 2025

SpaceX's Primary Revenue Drivers

Musk emphasized that commercial services, particularly Starlink, are the primary revenue drivers for SpaceX. He refuted allegations that the company receives subsidies from NASA, asserting that SpaceX secured NASA contracts by offering superior products at competitive prices.

Musk further highlighted that SpaceX is the only provider meeting NASA’s safety standards for astronaut transport.

IPO Plans

SpaceX is positioning itself for a significant financial milestone, reportedly aiming for an $800 billion valuation and a potential initial public offering (IPO) by late 2026. SpaceX’s CFO, Bret Johnsen, recently informed investors about a secondary share sale, which could make SpaceX the most valuable private company in the U.S.

Musk has previously described SpaceX as “Earth’s space program,” highlighting its pivotal role in global space exploration. “SpaceX will carry ~90% of the world’s payload mass to space this year, so it is pretty much Earth’s space program,” he said.

SpaceX also successfully conducted the 10th launch test of the Starship rocket, with Musk saying that the upcoming Starship V3 and V4 rockets will be bigger and offer more payload capacity.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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