The AI trade keeps running into walls. First it was chips, then memory, then power, and now it comes down to one small part inside every gas turbine. That is why I have been digging into SpaceX turbine blades and what they could mean for the whole power trade.
Why SpaceX Turbine Blades Matter Now
GE Vernova, Siemens and Mitsubishi are the heavy hitters in gas turbines, and they are booked out for years. The part holding everything up is the blade itself, running anywhere from 18 to 24 months out. They have everything else ready to go.
SpaceX needs a lot more power for its gigafactories and the giant data centers it plans for xAI. Bringing turbines in house fits how Elon runs things: vertically integrated, building factories in Texas, and keeping the profits inside instead of giving them away to a supplier.
Why Turbine Blades Are So Hard to Make
A gas turbine is basically a jet engine on the ground. The gases on the hot side reach 2,300 degrees, and the metal can only handle maybe 1,500 to 1,700. So the blades get a ceramic coating for insulation, plus tiny holes that push compressed air across the surface as a cooling film.
Then there is the metal itself. Cast metal is full of small crystals, and every place two crystals meet is a weak spot, like a fault line. Directional casting lines the grains up. Single crystal blades grow the whole part from one grain, which is the strongest and hardest to make, so only about 5% of blades are built that way.
SpaceX already makes turbine blades for its Raptor engines, builds Starship out of stainless steel, and has been talking about a new alloy called SX500 for the hot section.
What I’m Watching on SpaceX Turbine Blades
None of this happens fast for SpaceX turbine blades. New foundries take time, vacuum factories take more than two years to build, and single crystal blades can run a 50% loss rate while the bugs get worked out. Selling blades to GE Vernova or the other OEMs is still a big what if, and SpaceX could end up building the whole turbine itself.
I’m watching for news out of SpaceX on this. GE Vernova, Siemens and Mitsubishi have shown a lot of strength, and they have been pulling back with everything else. Those could turn into good dip buys, though I want to get past the midterms first and see the AI narrative hold. I covered a related theme in Space Stocks Need This 3D Printing Boom, and I talk through names like these every day in my Moxie Indicator Mastery room.
Watch the video above for the full breakdown.
Your Profit Pilot,
TG Watkins
My colleague John Carter is going live Thursday, November 5 at 6pm CT to show how to put AI to work in your trading, even if you’re not technical. Save your seat!
