Cloud Of Betrayal Settles Over Potential SpaceX-Tesla Merger

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Everyone is excited about the possibility that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will join the two companies in a merger. Musk himself laid the groundwork last week, when he showcased a “flying EV” airlifted with an assist from SpaceX technology. Don’t get too excited just yet, though. SpaceX and other Musk ventures have been sailing through US President Donald Trump’s second term with little if any oversight from Congress, and Election Day 2026 is shaping up to propel a seismic shift in attitude over at the Capitol Building.

Flying Cars And The Possibility Of A SpaceX-Tesla Merger

Word of a possible SpaceX-Tesla merger has been drifting around the Intertubes for months, and things really began to pop at the beginning of October when Bloomberg reported that a merger between Tesla and SpaceX could be announced before this year’s Tesla annual meeting takes place.

CleanTechnica also weighed in, citing Gary Black of The Future Fund. Black, who is described as “a well known investor in Tesla [TSLA] who has nonetheless never been shy of criticizing Musk’s decisions or identifying potential risks and problems at the company,” rendered this verdict:

“I agree with those who say the sole purpose of last night’s Roadster event was to make the case for a $SPCX-$TSLA merger. My guess: Announcement in next few weeks $SPCX buys $TSLA for $420/share in SPCX stock; deal could take a year to close.”

Ya don’t say. Ahead of the Roadster event of which Black speaks, Tesla and Musk cultivated a rumor that the EV would go airborne, evoking images of a Jetsons or Star Wars type of vehicle that would ferry people around cities other landscapes. However, if people were expecting Tesla to dip its finely tuned EV engineering toe into the emerging eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) industry, that was not to be.

What Went Wrong (Or Right) At The Roadster Event

The showcased Roadster was definitely not meant for street use, and CleanTechnica readers had plenty to say on the topic of a Tesla-SpaceX merger.

A selected sample of comments is here, including this representative insight from Matthew2312,

“This is the last chance to stave off a share price collapse for Tesla given that it is nowhere close to meeting any of its business objectives or promises on robotaxis, vehicle sales, solar, semis, or robotics…”

In light of the events unspooling in Ukraine, reader Nathan Canolee was among those connecting the dots from Musk’s money-making ventures to his high profile role in US Trump’s circle of unelected deciders.

“I see the merger is an insurance policy for Musk and his companies, none of which has [anything] to do with SpaceX. SpaceX has many government contracts, it is a strategic company for US government and too big to fail…”

SpaceX Is A Strategic Company For Russia, That Is

Yes, SpaceX has many government contracts, and not just with the US. SpaceX is the umbrella company for the Starlink and Starshield satellite systems, with Starshield being a military-grade service.

After Russia launched its war of choice against Ukraine in February of 2022, Musk occasionally indicated that he personally controls the ability of Ukraine to deploy SpaceX satellite services in its defense. Those remarks were spooky enough, but they did not gain much media traction until last week. In the days running up to Tesla’s “flying” Roadster event, SpaceX satellite service to Ukraine was throttled back without warning, leaving that nation more vulnerable than ever to Russian drone and missile attacks.

Musk initially took to social media to point the finger at US President Trump as the ultimate decider on the use of SpaceX satellite service in Ukraine. The White House promptly denied the allegation, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio took things into the realm of the surreal by suggesting that nobody made the decision.

And now, the cat is out of the bag. In a widely circulated scoop by the Wall Street Journal, Musk has reportedly been unveiled as the ultimate decider.

“Musk Ordered Starlink Slowdown That Blindsided Ukraine,” WSJ summarized in a headline, adding “The SpaceX founder authorized the move and has been discussing Ukraine with Trump, but the president has denied ordering the restrictions,” in a subheading.

“Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration, U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said,” WaPo continued.

“Both Musk and President Trump have expressed anger at Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries in recent weeks, which the president blames for high energy prices. Last week, Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network, the people said, rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless,” WaPo added.

Why Does SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Care About The High Cost Of Diesel?

Good question. If anything, the high cost of diesel has been a boon to Musk’s Tesla venture and other US stakeholders in the electric mobility heels, sparking renewed interest in EVs after sales crashed last year. In that regard, Musk should be cheering for the high cost of diesel, though Ukraine has little if anything to do with the current state of affairs. Global prices spiked after Trump ordered bombs to drop on Iran in February, and he has yet to figure out how the US can back down without egg on its face.

Also of note, even while the consequences of last week’s SpaceX dial-down were spinning out, US negotiators were hammering out the final details of a prisoner exchange with Russia, leading some to conclude (raises hand) that the satellite services interruption was part of a Faustian bargain intended to give President Trump some badly needed positive press as Election Day 2026 approaches.

Either way, there is no mystery behind Musk’s interest in Trump’s ability to get his voters to the polls this year. Musk has publicly and loudly hitched his fortune to Trump and the Republican majority in Congress, and he has shifted a generous part of his fortune into various attempts to convince voters that Republicans in Congress deserve another two years of majority rule. So far the electorate is not buying it. Although anything could happen between now and Election Day 2026, at this point Musk and Trump can only flail about while voters head to the polls.

As another indication of Musk’s desperation to draw voters to the Trump side, consider his pledge to gift one share of SpaceX stock to every “kid” in America, presumably through their so-named Trump Accounts. Hold on to your hats…

PSA #1: CNBC is among those advising that any kid with a Trump account cannot refuse to accept donated stock, and they cannot sell donated stock for five years, even if they want to dump it on account of the company running into financial trouble.

PSA #2: If you need to contact your local elections officials and don’t know how, reputable elections hubs like Vote.org (a project of the League of Women Voters) can hook you up. Do not use “VoteSafe.org,” which is a partisan voter data collection operation funded by Musk’s America PAC.

Image: Starshield satellite courtesy of SpaceX (screenshot, cropped).