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Reporting from San Francisco
- June 4, 2026
Late last month, a crowd gathered in South Padre Island, Texas, to watch the nearby launch of a new SpaceX rocket.
Thousands showed up, far more than the hundreds drawn to previous SpaceX launches. On livestreams of the event, people were heard asking one another if they were investing in the company’s blockbuster initial public offering, which is set to take place this month.
“Major shout-out to Elon,” the rapper Nicki Minaj said on one livestream, referring to SpaceX’s chief executive, Elon Musk. Ms. Minaj, who wore a black “Starship” T-shirt, bearing the name of SpaceX’s biggest rocket, said that it was her first time attending a launch and that she was “very excited.”
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Sheera Frenkel is a reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area, covering the ways technology affects everyday lives with a focus on social media companies, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp.
See more on: SpaceX, Elon Musk
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