Elon Musk flies to Seattle area amid SpaceX and xAI operations

Elon Musk flew from Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley to Paine Field near Seattle on the night of May 8, 2026, touching down just after 1 a.m. the next day in his Gulfstream G550, N272BG. The 1-hour-47-minute flight reached a maximum altitude of 45,025 feet and topped out at 487.5 knots ground speed.

The journey coincides with SpaceX's preparations for a NASA commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station launching May 12, as announced in a recent agency update. More directly, it aligns with Musk's deepening business footprint in the Pacific Northwest, where SpaceX runs major satellite operations in Redmond, Washington—including hiring for AI-integrated satellites—and xAI established an office in nearby Bellevue earlier this year to tap the region's AI talent, per a February GeekWire report.

This marks Musk's return to the area just days after departing Seattle on May 6, reflecting his pattern of shuttling between Texas headquarters and West Coast hubs for SpaceX avionics work, Tesla oversight, and emerging xAI initiatives, even as he maintains a modest home near Starbase.