Musk's SpaceX to cast its own gas turbine blades, claiming 18-month speedup for AI power
量子位 · wechat · 2026-08-30
According to The Information, SpaceX is preparing a gas turbine blade and vane foundry in Bastrop, Texas, with job postings already live — and Musk promptly confirmed it. The logic: AI needs compute, compute needs power, solar alone won't suffice near-term, and the bottleneck in gas turbines is precisely blade casting — other components arrive 12–18 months earlier.
Key numbers
- SpaceX expects 2GW+ of compute online by end of 2026, 10GW by end of 2027, with 20GW of power/cooling infrastructure planned.
- Musk estimates 15GW of AI compute built in 2027 may not be able to power on due to electricity shortfalls.
- GE Vernova has 116GW of turbine orders (125GW+ by year-end), sold out through 2031, with 2030 capacity likely fully booked by late 2026.
Musk claims in-house casting can bring turbines online 18 months earlier; SpaceX has turbomachinery experience from Raptor engines. No evidence yet the foundry is producing — but AI infrastructure competition has reached materials science and precision manufacturing.
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