SpaceX (SPCX) Shares Shed 3% as Putin Unveils Rassvet Rival to Starlink

31 Satellites Against 11,190

Vladimir Putin used the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow on Wednesday to present Rassvet, the satellite constellation the Kremlin positions as Russia's answer to Starlink. Speaking at the plenary, the Russian president called SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk an industrial genius, credited him with more than 5,000 spacecraft in orbit, and said Russia stays in close contact with its American partners, including Musk, to maintain discipline and order in orbit, according to remarks circulated from the summit. Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev presented the system at the same gathering. The private Russian manufacturer Bureau 1440 builds it; its first batch of satellites flew in March. The Moscow presentation, staged at a summit meant for Africa partnerships, doubled as a demonstration that alternative networks now exist beyond the United States.

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Remarks circulated from the summit.

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The scale gap remains extreme. Rassvet has 31 satellites in orbit and a year-end goal of 156, with no third launch scheduled, while orbital tracking counts 11,190 Starlink satellites. That fleet is about 360 times the Russian count, a lead no announced Rassvet timeline can close within the year. Starlink is also the revenue line investors price. It sits inside SpaceX's Connectivity segment, which earned $5.25 billion last quarter, about 36% of $14.6 billion in third-quarter revenue. That concentration explains why even a distant rival can move the shares: the Connectivity business is no longer a side bet but more than a third of the company's top line. The stock of SpaceX (SPCX) fell 3% after the two rival systems were showcased, a move worth roughly $63 billion at a market value near $1.96 trillion.

Jio's Bigger Bet and Wall Street Targets

Reliance Jio's answer is further behind but aims bigger. The Indian operator is building a constellation of about 1,600 satellites, a design that targets throughput of up to 5 terabits per second across India, roughly eight times the 600 gigabits approved for Starlink in the country. India's space regulator cleared the Jio system on technical grounds in July, a decision that covered the engineering case for a low-Earth-orbit network, not commercial launch, and the first test flight is set for September 2027. Starlink, by contrast, is still locked out of the same market: it holds a licence but waits on security clearance and airwaves, and Musk has publicly blamed Jio owner Mukesh Ambani for the holdup. That dispute turned India's spectrum question into a personal fight between the two billionaires well before this week's Moscow showcase. If Jio's 5 terabit per second design survives real-world testing, it would dwarf the capacity Starlink can offer under its current Indian approval.

Wall Street has priced the quarter, not the headlines. After SpaceX's third-quarter report, JPMorgan raised its price target to $500 and Bank of America lifted its own to $275, while Goldman Sachs sits lower at $230. Of 35 analysts covering the shares over the past three months, 29 rate them a buy, five a hold and one a sell. Their average 12-month target is $250.34, about 74% above the $143.82 print before this slide, with forecasts ranging from $140 to JPMorgan's $500. The next markers for SPCX holders are specific: India's security decision on Starlink's entry, a date for Rassvet's third launch, and any conditions attached to the possible merger with Tesla. Until one of those lands, competitive headlines from Moscow and Mumbai, not new financials, will keep setting the tone.

SpaceX shares last traded at $144.84, down 4.36% over the past 24 hours, per COINOTAG data, inside a session range of $142.53 to $151.56. On COINOTAG's composite scoring, the strongest support sits at $143.32, rated 87 out of 100, with the nearest resistance at $152.20, rated 91 out of 100. Trading has tested the support since the news: the session low of $142.53 briefly undercut it before price recovered above the level, while the resistance stayed untouched. The daily chart reads as a downtrend with an RSI of 41.2. In derivatives, the stock perpetual market carries about $621.3 million in open interest at a funding rate of 0.0297% per interval. That instrument, unlike conventional futures, never expires, and it gives traders exposure to U.S. equities through crypto venues.