SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Terafab aims to begin volume chip production at a Texas site in the third quarter of 2028, a target tied to future chip needs for orbital computing and Tesla vehicles.
On SpaceX’s Oct. 20 earnings call, Musk said production at the Gibbons Creek site could instead begin in the fourth quarter of 2028. He cautioned that the project might miss its timetable. Musk also said ASML and other suppliers were accelerating equipment deliveries to support it.
Terafab involves SpaceX, Tesla and Intel, which joined in April, according to SpaceX’s June prospectus. SpaceX says the project is intended to reduce the risk of future AI chip shortages in its own operations as it develops computing infrastructure in orbit.
The planned chips would also serve Tesla vehicles and Optimus robots. SpaceX has set a longer-term goal of making enough chips annually to support 1 terawatt of computing power. That figure is a project goal, not a production level Terafab has reached.
SpaceX warned in its prospectus that Terafab might miss its objectives or fail. Musk has previously cited Terafab as an area of growing cooperation between Tesla and SpaceX.
The next target is a functional test chip from Terafab’s Austin research line in May or June 2027. Musk said the line could use static random-access memory circuits, known as SRAM, or a similar design to test the manufacturing process.
