U.S. space stocks rally this week: SpaceX (SPCX.US) Starship's first revenue-generating flight imminent, Voyager (VOYG.US) and Rocket Lab (RKLB.US) surge.

This week, U.S. space stocks saw multiple catalysts, with SpaceX (SPCX.US) drawing market attention on the back of its first revenue-generating Starship mission and an astonishing $10 trillion bullish scenario, but Rocket Lab (RKLB.US), AST SpaceMobile (ASTS.US), Intuitive Machines (LUNR.US), and Planet Labs PBC (PL.US) posted even bigger share price gains. This week, Voyager Technologies (VOYG.US) led popular space stocks with a gain of over 8%, followed closely by Rocket Lab, which rose nearly 8%. AST SpaceMobile gained 5%, while Planet Labs and Intuitive Machines each rose 3%, and SpaceX advanced 2%. Voyager wins another infrastructure order On Monday, Voyager delivered and integrated launch-critical hardware for the European Space Agency's in-orbit demonstration and validation project under its contract with Avio. Voyager executive Matt Magana said the project demonstrated its ability to quickly and efficiently deliver "flight-ready systems." Last week, Voyager's Starlab Space and a Swiss aviation partner launched a global competition to provide funding for up to four teams to travel to the International Space Station. On Thursday, Voyager traded 1.24 million shares, slightly below its average volume of 1.7 million shares. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward Voyager rose to "bullish" from "neutral" a week earlier. The stock is up more than 38% year to date. SpaceX advances on two fronts: Starship's first revenue-generating flight imminent, mobile communications gets FCC authorization SpaceX received authorization from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide international telecommunications services supporting Starlink mobile services. The authorization allows the company to operate services between the United States and overseas markets. Currently, Starlink mainly covers ordinary U.S. mobile phone users through T-Mobile's T-Satellite service, but SpaceX is considering selling mobile plans directly. According to reports, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the company is expected to take "quite a few" customers from major U.S. carriers. After completing the $17 billion EchoStar deal, SpaceX has gained control of about 65 MHz of mid-band spectrum and plans to launch a 5G-level Starlink mobile product in the first half of 2028. At Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.'s communications technology conference earlier this month, SpaceX Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen pointed out that coverage in signal dead zones and "global roaming" are key differentiating advantages of Starlink mobile. Meanwhile, Starship's 14th flight mission is expected to take place as early as September 28. The mission is expected to deploy 26 operational Starlink V3 satellites, making it Starship's first revenue-generating flight. ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood estimates that each fully loaded Starship could generate about $1 billion in annual revenue for Starlink. Based on SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's target of 10,000 flights per year, Starship's market potential would reach $10 trillion by 2030. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward SpaceX remained "neutral" over the past week. The stock is up slightly more than 3% this year. Iridium financing and Neutron rocket progress lift Rocket Lab Rocket Lab raised $1.944 billion by selling 29.3 million shares and terminated the $3.6 billion bridge loan intended to support its $8 billion acquisition of Iridium Communications Inc. (IRDM.US). Iridium Communications Inc. also amended its $1.775 billion term loan so that it remains effective after the acquisition is completed. The deal will add Iridium's 66 operational satellites, 14 in-orbit spares, L-band spectrum, and 2.55 million users to Rocket Lab's launch and spacecraft businesses. In addition, Rocket Lab completed pre-flight testing of the "Hungry Hippo" fairing for the Neutron reusable rocket and installed a second-stage test stand at Launch Complex 3. The rocket still needs to complete integrated testing, a wet dress rehearsal, and a first-stage static fire. As SpaceX shifts future commercial transport missions from Falcon 9 to Starship, the Neutron rocket is expected to benefit, but its first flight in 2026 remains uncertain due to delays and a fuel tank rupture incident in January. "The window for launching before the end of the year is narrowing," Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in August. Rocket Lab's defense business has also drawn attention after U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink confirmed that the United States possesses "in-orbit space control weapons." The company holds a $266 million Space Force contract for 12 suborbital missile defense launches; it also holds a $397 million contract to build military satellites. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward Rocket Lab fell to "bearish" from "bullish" over the past week. The stock is up 41% in a year. AST satellite technology advances, but launch questions heat up AST disclosed a patent covering the heat pipe and honeycomb core design of its 2,400-square-foot Block 2 array, which targets peak speeds of nearly 200 Mbps for ordinary smartphones. However, although AST previously said BlueBird 14 to 16 satellites were "about to ship," it has still not announced their shipment or launch dates. The company's latest update said BlueBird 14 has been completed, while BlueBird 15 and 16 are also nearing completion. The company plans to place 45 satellites into orbit by early 2027. Competitive pressure is also rising. SpaceX and AST are targeting the same marketconnecting standard smartphones directly to satellites when terrestrial networks are unavailable. But their business models differ: SpaceX is moving toward vertical integration and may compete directly for users; AST plans to continue as a wholesale satellite supplier to existing carriers. AST's partners include AT&T, Verizon, FirstNet, Vodafone, Orange, and Rakuten, and its 60 mobile network partners together serve about 3 billion users. But SpaceX's direct-to-consumer plan could intensify competition. On the regulatory front, AST still retains an advantage. In April, the FCC authorized AST to use spectrum controlled by U.S. carrier partners such as AT&T, Verizon, and FirstNet to provide commercial satellite-to-phone communications services, with authorization covering up to 248 satellites and allowing the use of partner-controlled 700 MHz and 800 MHz spectrum under coordination. Despite opposition from SpaceX and T-Mobile, the FCC still approved AST's request. Separately, two AST executives proposed selling a combined $3.06 million worth of shares, about 0.017% of the company's outstanding shares. On Stocktwits, AST retail sentiment over the past week was "bearish." Intuitive and Planet win new orders Intuitive Machines completed in-orbit testing and handed over the SXM-11 communications satellite to SiriusXM, marking the 13th spacecraft produced through the two companies' partnership. The delivery followed orders for two additional satellites and progress on a communications project with a potential value of more than $600 million. Intuitive Machines ended the second quarter with an order backlog of $1.8 billion. Meanwhile, Planet Labs signed a five-year contract worth up to $29 million with the German government to provide dedicated satellite capacity, imagery, and analytics services hosted on European infrastructure. More than 400 German federal agencies are already using Planet's data. On Stocktwits, Planet's retail sentiment fell to "bearish" from "neutral" a week earlier, with message volume down 56%; Intuitive's sentiment shifted to "bullish" from "bearish," with message volume surging 202% over the same period.