SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has predicted that orbital industries and businesses will surpass the value of the Earth in the future.

Space Industries Will Vastly Exceed Value Of Earth, Says Elon Musk

On Sunday, entrepreneur Peter Diamandis took to the social media platform X, sharing that Musk-backed SpaceX was more valuable than "all six US defense companies combined."

Musk, responding to Diamandis' post, shared that Space-based industries held a lot of potential. "Space-based industries will vastly exceed the value of all of Earth," Musk said. He reasoned that even if humanity could harness "100,000 times more [solar] energy than Earth," it would still only account for "less than a millionth" of the Sun's total energy.

In the past, Musk has shared that SpaceX could reach a total valuation of $100 trillion, touting building factories on the lunar surface, as well as orbital datacenters for AI compute. He has been a vocal proponent of solar energy, which he believes would be a better source of energy than nuclear power.

James Chanos Reacts To Elon Musk

Responding to Musk's post, famed short-seller James Chanos criticized Musk's comments. "And there it is. "The TAM for space companies is by definition, infinite," Chanos said in the post, taking a sarcastic jibe at the Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO.

Chanos had earlier criticized Musk-led Tesla's collaboration with insurer Lemonade Inc. (NYSE:LMND), which promises reduced rates by up to 50% for FSD-engaged driving as the insurer claims its assessment suggests the system is safer than a human driver.

Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock