SpaceX · Starmind · 11 Nov 2026
SpaceX orders solar-cell factory gear from Germany, and Musk says 100 GW a year is already ordered (as of 10 Nov 2026)
German equipment maker SINGULUS Technologies says it has signed a contract to supply Space Exploration Technologies Corp. with a complete production line for heterojunction solar cells, to be installed as SpaceX expands satellite manufacturing in Bastrop, Texas. The signed part disclosed so far is one line, worth more than €60 million and due in the first half of 2027. SINGULUS and SpaceX say production will scale to support more than 100 GW of equipment. Elon Musk later described that as 100 GW of output a year, already ordered. Nobody has put a date on the 100 GW figure, or given the capacity of the first line.
On this page
The editor holds Tesla and SpaceX shares. Supercharged Daily is independent and not affiliated with either company. Nothing here is financial advice.
What was signed
In a notice dated 10 Nov 2026, listed on SINGULUS’s MAR / ad-hoc page, the company said it has signed a supply contract with Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (“SpaceX”), Texas, USA, to deliver a turnkey production line for heterojunction (HJT) solar cells. It called the deal part of a strategic partnership “under which SINGULUS is planning to deliver multiple additional lines.” “The first line under the broader supply agreement has an order volume of over €60 million,” the notice says, and is due in the first half of 2027. SpaceX is named as the customer on that notice; that is not an inference.
The same notice, and a longer company press release posted the same day, both say that “production will scale to support more than 100 GW of production equipment as SpaceX accelerates satellite manufacturing in Bastrop, Texas.” Neither text gives a timeline for that scale, says how much the first line can make, or uses the words “per year.” SpaceX posted the news at 2:04 p.m. ET (11:04 a.m. PT) on 10 Nov 2026, using the same “more than 100 GW of equipment” wording.
Mike Nicolls, SpaceX’s senior vice president of Starlink, said in the press release that partnering with SINGULUS gives SpaceX “a high-performance manufacturing path for solar cells for our Starmind satellites at our production facility in Texas.”
We have signed a major supply contract with SINGULUS to create a durable option for advanced solar cell manufacturing to support more than 100 GW of equipment as we accelerate the production of our Starmind satellites in Bastrop, Texas
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 10, 2026
Post: SpaceX (@SpaceX), 2:04 p.m. ET on 10 Nov 2026 (11:04 a.m. PT). Embedded from X via x-embed.js. The blockquote is the full post text (the original ends with a link to the SINGULUS release).
Musk’s version: 100 GW every year
About four and a half hours later, at 6:47 p.m. ET (3:47 p.m. PT), Elon Musk put a rate on it and described that rate as already ordered. “SpaceX has ordered 100 GW/year of HJT solar manufacturing equipment from Singulus in Germany,” he wrote, quoting the SpaceX post. “This is for Starmind to create a sentient sun.”
Those two statements read differently. SINGULUS and SpaceX describe one confirmed line, plus planned extra lines, adding up to more than 100 GW of equipment, with no yearly rate and no date. Musk describes 100 GW of output per year as already ordered. Until either company publishes the size of the first line or a schedule for the rest, the €60 million line is the only part with a price and a delivery date attached. Treat the 100 GW a year figure as Musk’s statement on 10 Nov 2026, not as a capacity SINGULUS has confirmed for the first line.
SpaceX has ordered 100 GW/year of HJT solar manufacturing equipment from Singulus in Germany.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 10, 2026
This is for Starmind to create a sentient sun.
Post: Elon Musk (@elonmusk), 6:47 p.m. ET on 10 Nov 2026 (3:47 p.m. PT), quoting the SpaceX post. Embedded from X via x-embed.js. The blockquote is the full post text.
How big is 100 GW?
For scale, the Solar Energy Industries Association’s supply chain dashboard, updated in October 2026, puts operational U.S. solar module manufacturing capacity at 75.3 GWdc. The whole U.S. market installed 11.4 GWdc of solar in the second quarter of 2026, according to the SEIA and Wood Mackenzie Q3 2026 report.
So if the 100 GW-a-year figure were reached, one company’s cell lines in one Texas town would out-produce every module factory in the country combined. The comparison is of a stated goal, not of the signed first line, and it isn’t exact: module factories assemble panels, and SpaceX is buying gear to make the cells themselves, which is a different step. Nicolls says those cells are for Starmind satellites, so the plan sits outside the normal terrestrial solar business.
Why SpaceX wants its own cells
Starmind is SpaceX’s planned network of satellites for computing in orbit, where panels get near-constant sunlight and the chips on board would run on solar power. With this deal SpaceX would make those cells itself in Bastrop, next to its satellite lines, instead of buying them finished. We covered the wider orbital compute plan in our Baron conference piece.
The deal also did not come out of nowhere. SINGULUS says the partnership began in March 2026, and that SpaceX “provided significant funding” to the company that month “and additionally in October 2026 as part of the recently announced subordinated secured loan.” SpaceX is a lender to its own supplier as well as a customer. Lars Lieberwirth, a member of SINGULUS’s executive board, said the partnership lets the firm “solidify our position as a leading Western provider of next-generation solar cell technology.”
What we still don’t know
Neither company has given the efficiency of the cells, the output of the first line, the value of the later lines, or when Bastrop would hit 100 GW. The confirmed milestone is the first line’s delivery in the first half of 2027.
— Alex R
Sources: SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES notice (10 Nov 2026), also listed on the company’s MAR / ad-hoc page (includes the “over €60 million” first-line figure and names Space Exploration Technologies Corporation); SINGULUS press release (10 Nov 2026) (Nicolls and Lieberwirth quotes; the €60 million figure is not in this version); @SpaceX on X (10 Nov 2026); @elonmusk on X (10 Nov 2026); SEIA Solar & Storage Supply Chain Dashboard (updated October 2026; checked 11 Nov 2026); SEIA / Wood Mackenzie Solar Market Insight Q3 2026. Related: Ron Baron on orbital data centers. Hero photo: NASA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Never Electrek.
