第一個挑戰是星艦（Starship）的龐大體積與研發成本。SpaceX 已經投入了 150 億美元開發這款完全可重複使用的巨型火箭，而且太空部門的資本支出仍在大幅飆升。與早期成本較低的發射事故不同，如今星艦測試失敗所耗費的時間和金錢代價都極其沉重。
第二個挑戰是來自股東和合作夥伴的巨大壓力。SpaceX 如今擁有需要討好的股東，且美國宇航局（NASA）與投資者都仰賴星艦的成功來實現月球基地及擴展衛星資料網路等關鍵計畫，因此他們急需一次沒有意外爆炸的成功測試來穩固投資人的信心。
SpaceX's unique engineering culture of rapidly testing, learning from failures, and iterating successfully developed the Falcon 9 rocket, propelling it from a cash-strapped startup to one of the world's most valuable companies. However, this strategy of moving fast and breaking things is currently facing two major obstacles that may force the company to reconsider its development model.
The first challenge is the massive size and development cost of Starship. SpaceX has already invested $15 billion in developing this fully reusable giant rocket, and capital expenditures for its space unit continue to surge significantly. Unlike the relatively inexpensive early launch mishaps, the burden of time and money associated with Starship test failures is now incredibly heavy. (Key numbers: 150)
The second challenge is the immense pressure from shareholders and partners. SpaceX now has shareholders to please, and both NASA and investors are heavily relying on Starship's success to enable key plans like a permanent moon base and the expansion of satellite data networks, making a successful test without unscheduled explosions urgently needed to secure investor confidence.