Elon Musk Challenges Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Other SpaceX Rivals, Says They Still Can’t Catch Starship — ‘Even Their Future Plans Are Behind’

As Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) gears up to report its third-quarter 2026 earnings on Tuesday after market close, CEO Elon Musk backed the commercial spaceflight giant ahead of its rivals. Starship Ahead of the Future On Saturday, user James Cat posted on the social media platform X that Starship would widen the moat between SpaceX and its rivals. The user said that the competition was behind today, “before Starship becomes their [SpaceX’s] mainstream rocket.” Musk quoted the user’s post, backing their views. “True, even SpaceX’s competitor’s FUTURE plans are behind Starship,” the trillionaire said. True, even SpaceX’s competitor’s FUTURE plans are behind Starship 🤣🤣 https://t.co/J0z37uKmFx— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 18, 2026 Notably, SpaceX recently conducted the Starship’s first-ever orbital flight with Flight Test 14 and deployed multiple Starlink V3 satellites in low Earth orbit during the launch. Musk touted a six-week timeline for the company to conduct the 15th launch of the rocket. How Rivals Stack Up SpaceX sees competition from companies like Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) and billionaire Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin. Notably, Rocket Lab said last week that its awaited medium-sized reusable rocket, the Neutron, was getting delayed to 2027. The delay caused billions of dollars to be wiped out from the company’s valuation. Read Also: SpaceX Launch Could Create a Giant ‘Jellyfish’ in the Sky Over the East Coast Monday On the other hand, Blue Origin could be gearing up for its IPO after its latest funding round opened the doors to outside investors for the first time. The commercial spaceflight company was funded by Bezos for more than 25 years after the billionaire confirmed he put in $28 billion of his own money into the company. Blue Origin was poised to conduct a launch of its New Glenn rocket earlier this year. However, an explosion during the company’s static fire test of the rocket delayed its launch. SpaceX-Tesla Merger? Amid talk of rivals, multiple analysts, including Ross Gerber, as well as Deepwater Asset Management‘s Gene Munster, expect the company to merge with Musk-led automaker Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA). Noted Tesla bull Dan Ives also said that the companies could merge after Tesla debuted the Roadster high-performance EV loaded with SpaceX’s gas thruster technology that could make the car fly. SpaceX’s Q3 2026 Earnings SpaceX, on the other hand, is gearing up for its second-ever earnings report since going public following the blockbuster June IPO. The company reported second-quarter revenue of $7.81 billion, which was up 92% year-over-year. Ahead of Tuesday’s earnings call, Benzinga Pro data shows analysts expect the Musk-led company to report revenue of $12.94 billion in the third quarter, as well as an EPS of $0.16 per share. Price Action: SPCX shares rose 1.42% to $148.10 during overnight trading. Read Also: Elon Musk Says AI And Robots Are The Only Way To Solve America's $40 Trillion Debt Problem — ‘We’re Not Gonna Save Our Way There’ Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock