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Elon Musk’s planned Terafab semiconductor campus is reportedly scheduled to receive its first ASML extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography scanner in mid-2027. Tom’s Hardware reported the expected delivery on October 14, 2026, citing analyst Tim Culpan and people familiar with the project.
That date is not a public ASML confirmation of an order, an exact scanner model, a price or a binding delivery commitment. The same report says Terafab’s development-fab shell might not be complete until late 2027, so the machine could arrive months before the building is ready for installation and qualification.
What the mid-2027 EUV report actually means
The reported mid-2027 date describes an expected first delivery, not proof that Terafab has publicly announced a completed purchase contract with ASML. Neither an exact EUV model nor its price has been disclosed. Delivery would also be only one milestone: a scanner must be installed in a suitable cleanroom, connected to facility systems, qualified and integrated with the rest of the process equipment before it can make production wafers.
Tom’s Hardware says the development-fab shell may not be finished until late 2027. On that schedule, the first scanner could sit idle while construction, utilities and tool installation continue. The report says additional tools would start moving into the site later in 2027.
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What Terafab is intended to build
Terafab is a planned semiconductor-manufacturing initiative associated with SpaceX, Tesla and xAI. Reuters has described two intended advanced-chip factories:
- Vehicle and robotics chips: processors for Tesla vehicles and Optimus humanoid robots.
- Space-based AI chips: processors for AI data centers deployed in space.
Musk has presented the project as protection against expected chip shortages within his companies. SpaceX’s 2026 prospectus describes the Terafab initiative with Tesla as having a potential annual output of 1 terawatt of compute hardware. That is a capacity ambition, not a current production figure.
Timeline: scanner delivery versus a working factory
| Milestone | Reported timing or value | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| First ASML EUV tool | Mid-2027 | Tom’s Hardware expectation based on sources familiar with the matter; no public ASML confirmation of a binding date |
| Development-fab shell | Late 2027 | Expected completion date cited by Tom’s Hardware; a shell is not an equipped, qualified fab |
| Initial Terafab phase | $16.8 billion | Investment figure from the SpaceX/Tesla announcement as reported by Tom’s Hardware |
| Planned campus | More than 100 million square feet of manufacturing space | The figure does not mean 100 million square feet of cleanroom space |
| Possible investment through later phases | Up to $119 billion | Reuters estimate if additional phases are completed |
| Estimated start of operation | Late 2029 | SemiAnalysis estimate quoted by Tom’s Hardware |
| Estimated volume ramp | Mid-2030 | SemiAnalysis estimate quoted by Tom’s Hardware, not a guaranteed production date |
The gap between the reported tool arrival and the estimated start of operations is normal for a project of this scale. Construction must be followed by power, water, gas, vibration-control, cleanroom, automation and process-integration work. The scanner itself is only one part of a much larger manufacturing line.
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Reuters reports that Tesla plans to use Intel’s 14A manufacturing process for the initial effort. Tom’s Hardware says the first generation is expected to rely on conventional EUV equipment, even though Musk has expressed interest in free-electron-laser light sources.
The equipment choice is linked in the report to Intel 14A’s expected use of existing low-numerical-aperture EUV scanners alongside next-generation high-NA EUV machines. That suggests Terafab’s early line would be based on established commercial EUV technology rather than waiting for a free-electron-laser approach. It does not establish which low-NA or high-NA scanner models Terafab would receive, or how many of each would be installed.
Where the factories are planned
Large-scale Grimes County campus
Reuters places the large Terafab facility in Grimes County, Texas. The campus is envisioned as a vertically integrated operation combining logic, memory, packaging and testing. Bringing those functions together is intended to shorten production cycles and speed design iterations, but it also makes the project broader and more capital-intensive than a single-purpose logic fab.
Smaller research fab near Giga Texas
Tesla is also building a smaller research fab at the north campus of Giga Texas. That site is distinct from the planned large-scale Grimes County manufacturing campus and should not be treated as evidence that the full Terafab line is already operational.
Why an early EUV arrival could still be useful
Receiving a scanner before the complete campus is ready would not immediately produce chips, but it could let the project begin logistics, installation planning and vendor coordination. EUV tools require specialized foundations, environmental controls, source and vacuum systems, facility gases, high-voltage power and extensive service infrastructure. Any delay in the building or utilities can therefore leave an expensive tool waiting for its operating environment.
The opposite risk also exists: if the tool delivery slips, Terafab’s installation and process-learning schedule could move even if construction stays on track. A mid-2027 expectation should therefore be read as one uncertain dependency in a chain of milestones, not as the date when Terafab starts manufacturing.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How certain is the production schedule?
Tom’s Hardware, citing SemiAnalysis estimates, puts initial operation in late 2029 and a volume ramp around mid-2030. Reuters says SpaceX has not assured that Terafab will meet its objectives within those expected timelines, or at all. Reuters also identifies unresolved questions about who will finance the equipment, who will operate the factories and when the facilities will come online.
Those open questions matter because a modern fab needs more than buildings and scanners. It needs a complete process flow, hundreds of additional tool types, qualified materials, mask and substrate supply, trained operators, process engineers, yield learning and customers or internal programs ready to consume the output. Reuters reports that Terafab staff sought quotations and delivery times for photomasks, substrates, etchers, deposition, cleaning, testing and other equipment, indicating that procurement extends well beyond EUV lithography.
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- Reported: a first ASML EUV-tool delivery is expected in mid-2027.
- Not publicly confirmed: an ASML order, exact scanner model, price or binding delivery contract.
- Reported: the development-fab shell may not be complete until late 2027.
- Planned: Intel 14A as the initial process technology for Tesla’s chips.
- Planned: a Grimes County, Texas campus exceeding 100 million square feet of manufacturing space, with logic, memory, packaging and testing integrated.
- Estimated: operation in late 2029 and volume production by mid-2030.
- Unresolved: final financing, operating responsibility and whether the stated objectives and schedule will be achieved.
Bottom line for the mid-2027 question
According to the October 14, 2026 Tom’s Hardware report, Terafab’s first ASML EUV scanner is expected in mid-2027. The machine could arrive before the development fab’s shell is finished, creating a period in which it cannot yet be commissioned. Terafab remains a long-dated, highly ambitious Texas project: its stated plans involve Intel 14A, more than 100 million square feet of manufacturing space and as much as $119 billion in possible later investment, while actual chip production is still projected years away and remains uncertain.
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