OpenAI CEO Sam Altman explored acquiring or forming a strategic partnership with Stoke Space, a reusable rocket startup founded by former Blue Origin engineers, through multi-billion-dollar equity investments that could have secured a controlling stake. The discussions, which began in the summer of 2025 and intensified in the fall, aimed to position OpenAI as a direct competitor to Elon Musk's SpaceX amid growing interest in orbital data centers for AI computing. However, the talks have since stalled and are no longer active, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Space architecture is a rapidly evolving field, intersecting disciplines such as traditional architecture, aerospace engineering, and materials science to create sustainable habitats for human life on celestial bodies. By 2025, advancements have been driven by AI, 3D printing, and resource-utilizing technologies. Emerging trends focus on addressing environmental challenges and enhancing psychological well-being in space.

Asteroid mining is becoming an increasingly viable industry, with significant advancements in technology and growing market interest in 2025. Companies like AstroForge are at the forefront of this space race, launching missions such as the ODIN spacecraft to test mining technologies. The market is projected to expand from $1.68 billion in 2024 to $2.07 billion in 2025, drawing attention from investors eager to capitalize on space resources.

At Space Investments, we see the future of space through the lens of a modern Silk Road — not through deserts and oceans, but across orbits, planets, and asteroids. There’s real, measurable value scattered throughout the solar system — from rare metals in asteroids to energy sources on the Moon — and for the first time, the tech is catching up to the ambition.

SpaceX’s Starship isn’t just a rocket. It’s a macroeconomic disruptor engineered to make space commercially inevitable. If the company’s cost targets are met — $10 million per launch and $10–20/kg to orbit — Starship could lower the barrier to space so dramatically that entire industries, once stranded on Earth by physics and finance, may lift off.