Starship 39 stands at the Massey Test Site, the SpaceX rocket testing facility, as preparations continue for the 12th test flight of the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy booster in Starbase, Texas, U.S., May 15, 2026. (a file photo) | Photo Credit: STEVE NESIUS

SpaceX said it has sunk more than $15 billion into developing its massive Starship rocket, which is manufactured and launched out of its Starbase facility in South Texas.

The company made the announcement in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday.

In 2025, SpaceX spent roughly $3 billion on Starship, an increase from $1.84 billion it spent on the new rocket the previous year.

Advertised as the most powerful rocket ever developed, Starship is SpaceX’s incredibly ambitious vehicle, designed to loft large satellites to orbit and eventually take people to the moon and Mars. 

It’s also meant to be a fully reusable launch system, with the entirety of the rocket returning to Earth intact after each mission — something that’s never been achieved before in spaceflight history.

Back in 2018, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk predicted that Starship would cost between roughly $2 billion to $10 billion to develop. In April 2023, Musk predicted that SpaceX would spend about $2 billion on Starship that year.

The rocket is expected to fly on its twelfth test mission as soon as tomorrow, a launch that the company needs to go well.

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Published on May 21, 2026