SpaceX faces a surprising rival Tesla is already battling

Elon Musk wears many hats.

As an unofficial member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, Musk once went to a cabinet meeting to make that point painfully clear. 

His most valuable asset is Tesla, the trillion-dollar electric vehicle maker/AI/driver assistance software company. He owns 13% of the company and is its CEO. 

Related: Cathie Wood makes a bold prediction about Elon Musk’s Space X

Musk also owns xAI, the company that is now the parent of X, formerly known as Twitter, and its Grok AI assistant. Musk is also a co-founder and major stakeholder in Neuralink and the Boring Company.

However, Musk’s other most valuable asset is SpaceX, the reusable rocket company that has helped revolutionize space travel. 

SpaceX is valued at $350 billion after a secondary share sale in December. According to a report, the company and investors purchased $1.25 billion shares at $185 a share. 

But legendary hedge fund manager Cathie Wood expects the company to be worth $2.5 trillion by 2030.

Ark also forecasts that SpaceX could hit $1 billion in Mars assets by 2030 and possibly $1 trillion by 2040. Combined with Musk’s other companies, Ark forecasts a total value of $10 trillion by the decade’s end.

However, just as increased competition is eating into Tesla’s market share, SpaceX is also seeing a lot more competition in the space race.

Now, one of Tesla’s biggest rivals on the road looks like it will become a big thorn in Elon Musk’s side — in space. 

Honda debuts reusable rocket in stunning video

Reusable rockets have revolutionized space exploration by bringing down the costs exponentially. 

Instead of losing rockets to the ocean once they’re disengaged, like previous generations did, reusable rockets deliver their payloads into low Earth orbit before safely returning to Earth for later reuse. 

SpaceX — founded in 2002 and launching its first rocket, Falcon 1, in 2006 — has helped revolutionize space. 

But now Honda Motor Co.  (HMC)  is bringing some new competition to the market. On June 17, Honda R&D Co., the research arm of Honda, conducted a successful launch and landing test of its reusable rocket. 

The 20-foot-long capsule landed safely back within about 14 inches of its target touchdown point after rockets pushed the almost 3,000-pound payload nearly 889 feet off the ground for 56 seconds of flight. 

It was Honda’s first launch and landing test, and according to the video, it was a smashing success. 

NEWS: Honda today conducted its first takeoff and landing experiment at an altitude of up to 300 meters using a reusable rocket prototype developed in-house. pic.twitter.com/IJRe7ZZKZl

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 17, 2025

“We are pleased that Honda has made another step forward in our research on reusable rockets with this successful completion of a launch and landing test,“ said Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe. “We believe that rocket research is a meaningful endeavor that leverages Honda’s technological strengths.“ 

While SpaceX has its dedicated launch base, Starbase, in South Texas (as well as launch sites and Kennedy Space Center and other places), Honda launched its test flight from Taiki Town, in southeastern Hokkaido, Japan. 

Taiki Town has been developing into a “space town” to host these types of launches. Honda has also conducted engine combustion and hovering tests in Taiki Town since 2024.

What’s next for Honda’s space program

The company first announced its space ambitions in 2021, with a stated goal to help people “transcend the constraints of time, place, or ability and make people’s daily lives more enjoyable.“

While SpaceX uses its rockets to build out Starlink and takes government contracting jobs, it is unclear how Honda plans to commercialize this technology.

The company does say that it expects to be able to achieve a suborbital launch with its rockets by 2029.

Related: Elon Musk’s entourage forces drastic move from the government

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