SpaceX Ramps Up Tesla Megapack Purchases to $295M in Q2 to Power Its AI Data Centers

SpaceX ramps up Tesla Megapack purchases in Q2 to power its AI data centers

SpaceX ramped up spending on energy products from CEO Elon Musk's other trillion-dollar company, Tesla, during the period ending June 30, 2026, financial filings revealed. Musk's aerospace and defense tech conglomerate purchased $295 million worth of Tesla Megapacks, or battery energy storage systems, that SpaceXAI has been installing to help power its Colossus data centers in the Greater Memphis area. The second-quarter purchases bring SpaceX's half-year total spending on Tesla Megapacks to $329 million. Megapacks are used for business and utility-scale developments, and Tesla's newer Megablocks are a combination of four Megapacks around one transformer. The systems use lithium-ion or other battery cells and help data centers and utilities avoid blackouts, allowing for energy storage from all sources, including fossil fuels and renewable and intermittent sources like solar and wind. Tesla is not the only company making battery energy storage systems. Top competitors, according to research by Wood Mackenzie, include China's Sungrow, BYD, CATL, Korea's LG, and U.S.-based Fluence, among others. At the SpaceXAI Colossus and Colossus 2 facilities in Greater Memphis, the company has also installed and used dozens of natural gas-burning turbines for power generation. Emissions and noise from the turbines have led to community uproar, and helped fuel a national backlash against data center developers, with Greater Memphis residents complaining of the smell, health problems, noise and air pollution.

SpaceX Q2 Tesla Megapack purchases: $295 million for AI data centers

SpaceX laid out $295 million for Tesla $TSLA Megapack battery energy storage systems during the April-June quarter of 2026, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The first-half total reached $329 million. The Megapacks are being deployed to help power SpaceX's AI data center operations. The company's AI segment, which includes the Colossus and Colossus II data centers in the Greater Memphis area, expanded its nameplate compute capacity to 1.4 gigawatts as of the end of the second quarter, up from 1.0 gigawatt in the first quarter. SpaceX and Tesla are both controlled by Elon Musk, who serves as chief executive of each company. The SEC filing discloses the transactions as related-party dealings. SpaceX said it recorded the Megapack purchases in property, plant, and equipment on its balance sheet. Megapacks are containerized, utility-scale battery systems. According to TechCrunch, the batteries play a role in AI data centers that goes beyond simple backup power -- because AI workloads draw electricity unevenly, the batteries absorb demand spikes that would otherwise trigger costly utility charges or strain on-site generation equipment. SpaceX's AI data centers have also relied on natural gas turbines for power generation. According to the company's SEC filing, the NAACP has taken SpaceX to federal court in Mississippi, arguing the turbines are operating without the necessary permits or pollution controls and asking the court to shut them down. On SpaceX's second-quarter earnings call, Musk said the company is targeting approximately 20 gigawatts of power and cooling capacity by the end of next year, though he acknowledged some projects may slip. He added, according to CNBC: "I would expect that we'd still probably have at the, at the power plant level, something close to 15 gigawatts." SpaceX's AI segment posted $2.6 billion in revenue for the second quarter, up from $737 million in the same period a year earlier, driven by new cloud services agreements. Total AI capital expenditures for the quarter reached $15.8 billion. Tesla has sold approximately $890 million worth of vehicles and batteries to SpaceX and its subsidiary xAI since 2023. SpaceX disclosed in its IPO filing that Tesla holds shares of SpaceX Class A common stock following the xAI merger, representing an ownership interest of less than 1% of total outstanding shares. No Tesla Cybertruck acquisitions appeared in SpaceX's first-half 2026 disclosures. The company had spent $131 million on Cybertrucks at manufacturer's suggested retail price during 2025, the filing states.