Monday, September 15, 2025
Canon RF 135mm f/1.8 L IS USM Review
Canon RF 135mm f/1.8 L IS USM Review
“The Canon RF 135mm f/1.8 L IS USM is a professional-grade lens with excellent build quality, featuring weather sealing and a customizable control ring. It boasts outstanding sharpness, low chromatic aberrations, and minimal distortion, though it exhibits high vignetting at maximum aperture. The lens’s autofocus is fast and silent, and its image stabilizer provides a significant gain, making it a strong choice for low-light photography.
So while we are at reviewing 135mm lenses, let’s not forget about this one – the Canon RF 135mm f/1.8 L IS USM. It is also interesting because it’s the only lens in its class featuring an image stabilizer. As such, it deserves to be a little more expensive than other lenses. In the US, it’s still “comparatively affordable” at around $2100 USD (probably not tariff-adjusted yet), whereas in other markets it’s bizarrely expensive. In Australia, it is almost 50% more expensive than the Sony FE 135mm f/1.8 GM. Anyway …
Coming back to the lens itself, the build quality is in line with what we have seen with other (black-colored) professional-grade RF lenses. The lens body is made of Canon’s engineered plastics, which you may or may not like – the finish is a bit too slippery in our book. However, it’s certainly sturdy and, of course, sealed against the elements. The focus ring turns smoothly, and there’s the usual customizable control ring at the front of the lens. A barrel-shaped lens hood is provided.
The AF is based on Canon’s Nano USM, which is both very snappy and silent. The image stabilizer is good for a gain of 5 to 8 f-stops (claimed), depending on whether your camera features an IBIS. As usual, take the statement with a grain of salt during real-life shooting, but it’s close depending on your coffee intake.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Optical construction | 17 elements in 12 groups (3x UD) |
| Number of aperture blades | 9 (rounded) |
| min. focus distance | 0.7m (max magnification 0.26x) |
| Dimensions | φ89.2 x 130.3 mm |
| Weight | 935g |
| Filter size | φ82mm |
| Hood | barrel-shaped (bayonet mount, supplied) |
| Other features | image stabilizer (5 to 8 f-stop claimed efficiency depending on camera) weather-sealing control ring focus stop button fluorine coating |
Distortions
The Canon RF 135mm f/1.8 L IS produces a slight amount of pincushion distortion in RAW images, and the remaining traces are removed via auto-correction if activated.
Vignetting
Ultra-large aperture lenses tend to produce very high vignetting at max aperture. This also applies to the Canon lens with a light falloff of more than 2 EV (f-stops) in RAW images – somewhat higher than average in this class. The original vignetting is almost gone from f/5.6.
The profile correction reduces this to a negligible degree even straight from the maximum aperture.
MTF (resolution) at 45 megapixels
The Canon lens delivered an outstanding resolution performance in the lab across all relevant aperture settings and across the image field. Stopping down improves the quality only marginally. This is probably the best result that we have seen from any tested lens so far.
The field curvature is negligible. The centering quality of the tested sample was very good.
Please note that the MTF results are not directly comparable across the different systems!
Below is a simplified summary of the formal findings. The chart shows line widths per picture height (LW/PH) which can be taken as a measure of sharpness. If you would like to know more about the MTF50 figures, you may check out the corresponding Imatest Explanations.
Chromatic Aberrations (CAs)
Lateral CAs have an average width of less than 0.5px at the image borders. This is negligible, even without auto-correction.
Bokeh
A 135mm f/1.8 lens is primarily about shallow depth-of-field photography, so let’s take a look at the quality of the bokeh.
Out-of-focus highlights are nicely rendered with a very smooth inner zone of the discs and barely any outlining effect. The circular shape of the discs remains intact even at f/4.
When looking at the highlight rendering across the whole image field, we can spot the usual “cat-eye” deterioration from roughly the mid-field into the corners. As usual, stopping down will broaden the zone showing circular discs, and the corner discs are restored at f/4.
The rendering quality in the focus transition zone is a bit surprising. The background blur – shown to the left below – looks rather nervous. We have seen smoother results from other 135mm f/1.8 lenses here. The usually less important foreground blur is pretty smooth, though.
Just to illustrate this in a real-life scene (the image is also available from the download section), check the background blur in the scene below – this doesn’t look ideal with some strangely hard edges in the background blur. And this isn’t an overly difficult scene.
Bokeh Fringing / LoCA
LoCAs, or bokeh fringing, is a color fringing effect on the Z-axis. It shows up with a purplish tint in front of the focus point and a greenish tint behind – and it’s nearly impossible to fully correct in post. The Canon RF 135mm f/1.8 L IS USM does a very good job in this respect. There are only slight traces of fringing visible at f/1.8.
You may also notice that the focus point remains spot-on when stopping down (= no relevant RSAs).
Sample Images
9.0
The Canon RF 135mm f/1.8 L IS USM is one of the sharpest - if not the sharpest - lens that we've ever tested. It's brutally sharp at all relevant settings, and that's across the frame. Lateral and axial CAs are very low, and image distortions aren't relevant either, with only marginal auto-correction needed here. The RAW vignetting is comparatively high at f/1.8, although, once again, auto-correction will come to the rescue here. A curious flaw is the "technical bokeh" in the focus transition zone. To be fair here, you will usually use the lens for very shallow depth-of-field photography where this won't be noticed anyway. However, it can be noticed in certain scenes.
The build quality is great, as you can expect from a Canon L lens. It feels, and is, sturdy despite the use of engineered plastics. The AF is very fast, as with all Canon USM lenses. The image stabilizer is a unique value-add for such a lens. Optical IS is more efficient at long focal lengths, and combined with IBIS, it can give you an edge when shooting in darker places.
Overall, Canon delivered an impressive piece of engineering here.
PS: A special callout to the friendly folks from Rent-A-Cam who gave us a little discount when renting the lens. If you live in Sydney/Australia, you may wish to check them out, and don't hesitate to send our greetings.
Optical Quality 9
Mechanical Quality 10
Price / Performance (depends on where you live) 8”
Friday, September 12, 2025
A Once-In-A-Lifetime Green Comet May Soon Be Visible, Scientists Say
A Once-In-A-Lifetime Green Comet May Soon Be Visible, Scientists Say
“After a quiet 2025 for comets, skywatchers may soon get a very special naked-eye spectacle in the shape of Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6). Discovered in January, the green comet has brightened faster than predicted in recent weeks and now looks set to be visible from dark rural skies during October 2025. It could be at its brightest during the peak of the annual Orionid meteor shower.
The comet was discovered on August 12, 2023 by Hideo Nishimura during 30-second exposures with a standard digital camera. Taken in Nerja, Málaga. Andalusia. South of Spain.
Key Facts
Comet Lemmon was discovered on Jan. 3, 2025, by the Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona. It was initially thought to be an asteroid.
It last visited the inner solar system 1,396 years ago — in the seventh century — with astronomers calculating that it will return in the year 3421, making it a once-in-a-lifetime comet.
By mid-October, it will be close to the Big Dipper in the northern night sky. It could shine as brightly as 5th magnitude, making it visible to the naked eye from dark rural skies.
Since Comet Lemmon will be visible in a part of the northern sky that's circumpolar, it will be visible in both morning and evening skies by mid-to-late October as seen from the Northern Hemisphere.
It will get closest to Earth — and, therefore, shine brightest — on Oct. 21, getting closest to the sun on Nov. 8. Comet Lemmon may be visible during that entire time.
How Bright Will Comet Lemmon Get?
Forecasts for Comet Lemmon’s brightness have recently changed dramatically. Early predictions placed it at around 10th magnitude in October, but according to Bob King at Sky & Telescope, recent observations suggest it could peak at magnitude 4.5 around Oct. 21 — visible to the naked eye from dark skies and easy in binoculars. However, comets behave erratically and it could become brighter or fainter than currently predicted.
During its closest pass to Earth, it will be at a distance of 56 million miles from Earth — the equivalent of about 60% of the distance between Earth and the sun.
A Comet, ‘shooting Stars’ And Aurora?
If Comet Lemmon brightens, it's sure to be widely observed by skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere. Its closest approach to Earth on Oct. 21 coincides not only with a new moon, but also with the peak of the Orionid meteor shower, when about 20 "shooting stars" per hour are expected. October is also a peak month for displays of the Northern Lights; if geomagnetic activity is high, some observers at northern latitudes may also see the comet amid auroras. It will be a fast-moving comet, so its position in the night sky will change dramatically from night to night.“
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Tuesday, September 09, 2025
Friday, September 05, 2025
Tuesday, September 02, 2025
Opinion | The One Danger That Should Unite the U.S. and China
Opinion | The One Danger That Should Unite the U.S. and China
Illustration by Saratta Chuengsatiansup
“China and America don’t know it yet, but the artificial intelligence revolution is going to drive them closer together, not farther apart. The rise of A.I. will force them to fiercely compete for dominance and — at the same time and with equal energy — cooperate at a depth our two countries have never attempted before. They will have no choice.
Why am I so confident about that? Because A.I. has certain unique attributes and poses certain challenges that are different from those presented by any previous technology. This column will discuss them in detail, but here are a couple to chew on for starters: A.I. will spread like a steam vapor and seep into everything. It will be in your watch, your toaster, your car, your computer, your glasses and your pacemaker — always connected, always communicating, always collecting data to improve performance. As it does, it will change everything about everything — including geopolitics and trade between the world’s two A.I. superpowers, and the need for cooperation will become ever more apparent each month.
For instance, say you break your hip, and your orthopedist tells you the world’s most highly rated hip replacement is a Chinese-made prosthetic that is infused with Chinese-designed A.I. It is constantly learning about your body and, with its proprietary algorithm, using that data to optimize your movements in real time. It’s the best!
Would you let that “smart hip” be sewn into you? I wouldn’t — not unless I knew that China and America had agreed to embed a common ethical architecture into every A.I.-enabled device that either nation builds. Viewed on a much larger, global scale, this could ensure that A.I. is used only for the benefit of humanity, whether it is employed by humans or operates on its own initiative.
At the same time, Washington and Beijing will soon discover that putting A.I. in the hands of every person and robot on the planet will super-empower bad people to levels no law enforcement agency has ever faced. Remember: Bad guys are always early adopters! And without the United States and China agreeing on a trust architecture to ensure that every A.I. device can be used only for humans’ well-being, the artificial intelligence revolution is certain to produce super-empowered thieves, scam artists, hackers, drug dealers, terrorists and misinformation warriors. They will destabilize both America and China, long before these two superpower nations get around to fighting a war with each other.
In short, as I will argue, if we cannot trust A.I.-infused products from China and it can’t trust ours, very soon the only item China will dare buy from America will be soybeans and the only thing we will dare buy from China is soy sauce, which will surely sap global growth.
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Monday, September 01, 2025
Voyager 1 ‘intercepts’ a song in the space — It came from 25 billion km away
Voyager 1 ‘intercepts’ a song in the space — It came from 25 billion km away
“Voyager 1, a NASA probe launched in 1977, intercepted a message from 25 billion kilometers away. The European Space Agency (ESA) transmitted a live performance of Johann Strauss II’s “The Blue Danube” to celebrate its 50th anniversary and Strauss’s 200th birthday. The mission aimed to showcase Voyager 1’s enduring legacy and the universal language of music.
Have you ever thought about hearing a song coming directly from space? Well, that’s what happened last Saturday in May, when the Voyager 1 probe intercepted a message that came from 25 billion kilometers away from Earth. Many thought it was some kind of operational command or even a historical novelty, but reality surprised everyone when scientists came across a song.
Do you happen to know Voyager 1?
Before we can decipher what this music was that was intercepted and if it had any meaning, we need to look at the object that made all this possible: Voyager 1. Back in 1977, NASA designed this probe with the aim of studying other planets in the Solar System – and beyond. And it did so successfully, you see?
First, it managed to fly over Jupiter and Saturn, until it passed what experts call the heliosphere, which is nothing more than the region of influence of our Sun, and then it ventured into interstellar space. Today it is already very far from us, we are talking about 24.8 billion kilometers from Earth, that is more than 166 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is worth remembering that no other object created by us is further away.
All this distance becomes a challenge for sending messages back and forth. Just to give you an idea, any radio signal sent from us here on Earth to there takes about 23 hours to reach it. Of course, in addition to all this distance, Voyager 1 is already old, operates with limited systems and an antenna of only 3.7 meters, but it remains firm in its mission of receiving and sending signals. It was with this in mind (and through it) that ESA decided to do something special, and that is where music comes into play.
The song that traveled 25 km away from Earth
You might be wondering: what does ESA have to do with this intergalactic music thing? Well, it wanted to pay tribute… That’s because on June 1st, the agency turns 50 and, along with that, it also turns 200 years since the birth of composer Johann Strauss II. In other words, they combined business with pleasure and transmitted a live performance by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra directly into space — and of course, the probe responsible for this was Voyager 1 (this after it had returned to service after almost 20 years).
And what was the song? It was the waltz, The Blue Danube (An der schönen blauen Donau), composed by Strauss in 1866. If you don’t know it, it’s worth mentioning that this song became very famous for representing space. Another interesting fact is that this became even more established after being used in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Stanley Kubrick.
The song that became a message to the unknown
What many people wondered was the reason for this space signal tribute, because, let’s face it, it’s not something that happens every day, so the authors of the project even explained (after joking that this was used to make aliens dance):
“The beauty of this mission lies in its boundless imagination and optimism. Music is a universal language – transcending borders, species and even galaxies. If there are life forms out there, perhaps they sense the joy, elegance and rhythm of humanity itself, and perhaps they respond with a dance of their own”
Apart from that, it also served to show how Voyager 1, even at almost 50 years old (47 to be more exact), navigating through a solitary environment, continues to inspire many people – even after “waking up” after almost two decades,”
Sunday, August 31, 2025
Thursday, August 28, 2025
GOOGLE ISSUES EMERGENCY WARNING FOR ALL GMAIL USERS
GOOGLE ISSUES EMERGENCY WARNING FOR ALL GMAIL USERS
How a breach at Salesforce exposed billions of users to cyber attacks
Google has sounded the alarm with an emergency warning to all Gmail users, urging extra caution amid a growing cyber threat linked to a major third-party breach. While the company stresses that its own systems remain secure, the incident has opened the door for hackers to exploit stolen data in new and deceptive ways. Here’s what you need to know and why it matters for your own inbox.
Cyber threat looms for Gmail users following Salesforce data breach
Google has issued a stark warning to Gmail users after uncovering a fresh wave of cyberattacks linked to one of the internet’s most notorious hacking groups. The threat emerged following a breach of Salesforce’s cloud platform, which left individuals and organizations using Google services more vulnerable to intrusion.
With Gmail and Google Cloud serving an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide, the company is urging users to remain vigilant, monitor accounts closely, and strengthen their security measures to reduce the risk of compromise.
According to Google’s Threat Intelligence Group (TAG), the first signs of these attacks were detected in June, when researchers discovered that hackers were relying on social engineering tactics—specifically impersonating IT support staff—to deceive targets. By August, Google confirmed that the group had achieved several “successful intrusions” through the use of compromised passwords.
Although the stolen data was described as “basic and largely publicly available business information,” it has since been weaponized to fuel more damaging schemes. “We believe threat actors using the ‘ShinyHunters’ brand may be preparing to escalate their extortion tactics by launching a data leak site (DLS),” TAG explained in a recent blog post. “These new tactics are likely intended to increase pressure on victims, including those associated with the recent UNC6040 Salesforce-related data breaches.”
The vishing method, where attackers pose as IT personnel over the phone, has proven “particularly effective in tricking employees,” Google noted, with victims largely concentrated in English-speaking branches of global corporations.
All users identified as impacted by the incident were formally notified by Google via email on August 8.
Who are the ShinyHunters?
ShinyHunters are a notorious cybercriminal group that first emerged in 2020, taking their name from the Pokémon franchise. Since then, they have been tied to a string of high-profile data breaches targeting major organizations, including AT&T Wireless, Microsoft, Santander, and Ticketmaster.
The group has built its reputation on carrying out large-scale intrusions and then exploiting the stolen information in multiple ways. They are known for stealing massive amounts of user records, login credentials, and personal data, which are often leaked or sold on underground forums. In addition to data theft, they engage in extortion by threatening to release sensitive information unless companies meet their demands. Another hallmark of their operations is the auctioning of hacked databases on the dark web, where other criminals can purchase and misuse the stolen material.
Over the years, ShinyHunters have also been linked to breaches at companies such as Tokopedia, Mashable, and Wattpad, among many others. Cybersecurity experts consider them a major threat, citing their persistence, global reach, and the sheer volume of stolen data they have exposed.
What Gmail users should do to stay secure
Gmail users are encouraged to take proactive steps to strengthen their security. Google advises users to regularly update their passwords and enable extra safeguards like two-factor authentication, which adds an additional layer of protection against intrusions.
While data from Google shows that most users already have unique or strong passwords, only about a third of them change those passwords regularly, leaving many accounts more vulnerable than they should be.
By combining strong credentials with routine updates and multi-factor authentication, Gmail users can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to cyberattacks like those linked to the ShinyHunters.“
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Monday, August 18, 2025
Sunday, August 17, 2025
They’re Stuffed Animals. They’re Also A.I. Chatbots.
They’re Stuffed Animals. They’re Also A.I. Chatbots.
“Curio, a company based in Redwood City, California, creates chatbots wrapped in stuffed animals. Each plushie, equipped with a Wi-Fi-enabled voice box, connects to an AI language model designed to converse with children as young as three.
New types of cuddly toys, some for children as young as 3, are being sold as an alternative to screen time — and to parental attention.
Curio is a company that describes itself as “a magical workshop where toys come to life.” When I recently visited its cheery headquarters in Redwood City, Calif., I found it located between a credit union and an air-conditioner repair service. I stepped inside to meet the company’s founders, Misha Sallee and Sam Eaton. And also Grem, a fuzzy cube styled like an anime alien.
Curio makes chatbots wrapped in stuffed animals. Each of its three smiling plushies has a back zipper pocket that hides a Wi-Fi-enabled voice box, linking the character to an artificial intelligence language model calibrated to converse with children as young as 3.
Eaton plunked Grem on a conference table and positioned it to face me. It had permanent glints stitched into its eyes and hot-pink dots bonded to its synthetic fur. “Hey, Grem,” Eaton said. “What are the spots on your face?”
A bright mechanical trill originated from Grem. “Oh, those are my special pink dots,” it said. “I get more as I grow older. They’re like little badges of fun and adventure. Do you have something special that grows with you?”
I did. “I have dots that grow on me, and I get more as I get older, too,” I said.
“That’s so cool,” said Grem. “We’re like dot buddies.”
Friday, August 15, 2025
SpaceX Gets Billions From the Government. It Gives Little to Nothing Back in Taxes.
SpaceX Gets Billions From the Government. It Gives Little to Nothing Back in Taxes.
SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite internet company, has received billions in federal contracts but has likely paid little to no federal income taxes since its founding in 2002. The company can use over $5 billion in losses to offset future taxable income, a benefit that was extended indefinitely in 2017. While SpaceX’s finances have improved, with Starlink generating substantial revenue, the company’s tax benefits and reliance on federal contracts raise questions about its tax obligations.
Elon Musk’s rocket company relies on federal contracts, but years of losses have most likely let it avoid paying federal income taxes, according to internal company documents.
SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite internet company, has received billions of dollars in federal contracts over its more than two-decade existence.
But SpaceX has most likely paid little to no federal income taxes since its founding in 2002 and has privately told investors that it may never have to pay any, according to internal company documents reviewed by The New York Times.
The rocket maker’s finances have long been secret because the company is privately held. But the documents reviewed by The Times show that SpaceX can seize on a legal tax benefit that allows it to use the more than $5 billion in losses it racked up by late 2021 to offset paying future taxable income. President Trump made a change in 2017, during his first term, that eliminated the tax benefit’s expiration date for all companies. For SpaceX, that means that nearly $3 billion of its losses can be indefinitely applied against future taxable income.
Tax experts consulted by The Times said that not having to pay $5 billion in federal income taxes was substantial and notable for a company that has relied on contracts with the U.S. government to an unusual degree. SpaceX works closely with the Pentagon, NASA and other agencies, giving it a vital role in national security. In 2020, federal contracts generated almost 84 percent of the rocket maker’s revenue, according to the documents, a figure that had not been previously reported.
Larger tech companies — including some that have taken advantage of the tax benefit — often pay billions in federal income taxes. Microsoft, for one, said it expected to pay $14.1 billion in federal income taxes in its last fiscal year.
SpaceX can use the tax benefit even if its business thrives. By one measure of corporate profitability, the company had roughly $5 billion in earnings from its core operations last year, up from $2.6 billion in 2023, according to what the company has privately told some stakeholders.
Danielle Brian, the executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a group that investigates corruption and waste in the government, said the tax benefit had historically been aimed at encouraging companies to stay in business during difficult times.
It was “quaint” that SpaceX was using it, she said, as it “was clearly not intended for a company doing so well.”
Mr. Musk has built SpaceX into one of the world’s most influential companies, which dominates the space industry through its rockets and its Starlink satellite internet service. It has been a jewel in the crown of his business empire and an essential source of his wealth and power, along with his electric vehicle company, Tesla. It has also given Mr. Musk a perch on the world stage, allowing him to weigh in on geopolitics.
Like many tech start-ups, SpaceX lost money as it plowed billions of dollars into building its business. Uber, Amazon, Tesla and other tech firms were also not profitable for years. As SpaceX has grown, the firm has been valued at more than $350 billion, crowning it one of the world’s most valuable private companies, according to the start-up tracker PitchBook.
Several news organizations have reported on aspects of SpaceX’s finances, which the company discloses to its investors and other stakeholders. But the documents reviewed by The Times — including income statements and balance sheets covering 23 years — offered new insight into SpaceX’s revenue sources, investors and taxes.
SpaceX appears to have paid some income taxes over the years, though likely not to the federal government, according to the documents. In one document, the company said it expected to pay $483,000 in income tax to foreign governments and $78,000 in state income tax in 2021. Separately, it reported paying $6,000 for income taxes in 2020 and 2021, but did not disclose if the payments were for federal, state or local governments.
SpaceX and Mr. Musk did not respond to requests for comment. Mr. Musk has often trumpeted SpaceX’s role in carrying out missions for NASA and other agencies. In June, he proudly posted on social media that the company had reached a milestone, as its “commercial revenue from space will exceed the entire budget of @NASA next year.”
Mr. Musk, who left his role as a close adviser to Mr. Trump in late May, founded SpaceX with the goal of shuttling humans to Mars and colonizing the Red Planet. He owned 44 percent of the company as of 2022, according to the documents.
Getting to Mars is an expensive endeavor, and SpaceX’s losses piled up from the start. In its first year of operation in 2002, the company lost about $4 million, the documents show. The next year, it lost $14.5 million. Those losses ballooned in subsequent years, reaching $341 million in 2020. In 2021, it lost $968 million.
All the while, Mr. Musk and Gwynne Shotwell, the president of SpaceX, pushed the company to grow. It began developing and testing Starship, a reusable rocket that Mr. Musk hopes will one day reach Mars.
By the end of 2021, SpaceX had accumulated almost $5.4 billion in tax losses, according to the most recent figure in the documents. Those losses generated the tax benefit, known as a net operating loss carryforward. It enables SpaceX to avoid federal income taxes on an equivalent amount of future taxable income. The benefit is available to all companies, including start-ups that lose money for years before turning a profit.
In one document, SpaceX told investors that it was “more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized,” meaning it might never pay taxes. The company cited, among other things, its past losses. Such language can be common for companies with a history of losses, and this outlook can be revised if their finances improve, said Robert Willens, an accounting analyst who runs his own firm.
SpaceX also benefited from a sweeping package of tax cuts that Mr. Trump signed in 2017. One change was eliminating a 20-year limit on the use of tax-loss carryforwards, meaning that losses generated after 2017 no longer expired. That change allows SpaceX to apply nearly $3 billion in carryforwards indefinitely.
In addition, the company had $227 million in carryforwards that could offset state income taxes, the documents show. It had more than $1.1 billion in other federal and state tax credits.
“Given the size of its net operating loss, the company almost surely didn’t pay any federal tax for years,” said Gregg Polsky, who teaches tax law at New York University School of Law. “And it’s so large, it’s unlikely it has paid taxes even if it has had positive taxable income in recent years.”
The tax benefits may have come in handy in recent years as SpaceX’s finances have improved, at least by one measure. The company has privately said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization nearly doubled to roughly $5 billion last year from 2023. That figure, known as EBITDA, is one way of measuring corporate profits but is not the same as the bottom line and does not mean that SpaceX is paying taxes.
Starting in the mid-2000s, SpaceX began landing hundreds of federal contracts, including one with NASA to deliver cargo to the International Space Station and another with a U.S. intelligence agency for $1.8 billion to provide spy satellites. Some contracts are expected to generate substantial revenue for years, according to the documents.
The documents, reviewed by The Times, provide the first insights into how heavily SpaceX depends on federal contracts. In 2020, they generated about $1.4 billion, or 83.8 percent, of the company’s total revenue that year. The next year, federal contracts brought in about $1.7 billion, or 76 percent, of the total revenue, the documents show.
Mr. Musk said in June that he expected SpaceX’s revenue to reach $15.5 billion this year. That is up from about $7.4 billion in 2023, the documents show. (Revenue includes sales of the company’s products.)
A big part of that growth stems from Starlink, which has six million subscribers, according to the company. The documents showed that SpaceX told investors that Starlink had 2.5 million users in 2023 and generated roughly $8 billion in revenue last year, more than double the previous year’s revenue and outpacing SpaceX’s rocket division in both years.
The documents do not include SpaceX’s net profits or losses for the past two years. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company generated $55 million in profit on $1.5 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2023. Companies can simultaneously report profits to shareholders and tax losses to the I.R.S. in any given year because of the differences in how certain items are treated.
To fund SpaceX, Mr. Musk has relied on longtime investors like Fidelity and Google and friends like Antonio Gracias, who is also a SpaceX board member. The documents reviewed by The Times identified others who had not been publicly associated with the company.
A company called AI RT SPX Holdings is listed as an investor on a 2020 document. It appears to be affiliated with Access Industries, an investment firm founded by Len Blavatnik, the billionaire investor who was born in Ukraine and raised in Moscow and made his fortune in the privatization era in the 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed. Now a British and American citizen, he has become a prolific philanthropist and investor in American and European companies.
The document was signed by two Access executives, including Mr. Blavatnik’s brother Alex Blavatnik. It is unclear whether Access Industries remains a SpaceX investor. Through a spokeswoman, Mr. Blavatnik declined to comment.
Chris Anderson, the entrepreneur who is the head of the organization behind TED Talks, appears to have invested in SpaceX through a company called Excalbians. He did not respond to requests for comment. Mr. Musk has delivered several TED Talks in the past.
Susanne Craig is a Times investigative reporter and writes on a variety of topics.
Kirsten Grind is an investigative business reporter for The Times, writing stories about companies, chief executives and billionaires across Silicon Valley and the technology industry.“