SpaceX: The Biggest IPO in History is Coming

Background

I'm sure you've heard of Elon Musk and what he's done with rockets, but have you ever looked into his trillion-dollar space company? It's called SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.), and Musk founded it in 2002. Musk had a goal from day one, and that was to get to Mars. To do that, he figured out pretty quickly that rocket costs needed to drop a ton, because nobody was going to fund a program getting to Mars at the prices NASA was paying. His obsession with cutting costs is what shaped everything about how SpaceX operates today.

For almost 25 years, SpaceX stayed private, which is unusual for a company this size. Most companies go public long before they reach SpaceX's scale. Musk had thought about it but resisted for a long time. When he saw how much money could be raised, his mind changed. In early April 2026, SpaceX quietly filed for an IPO, targeting a June listing that could raise up to $75 billion at a valuation of $1.75 trillion. That would make it the largest public debut ever, passing Saudi Aramco's $29 billion raise in 2019.

What Makes SpaceX Worth That Much

It's wild to think about how much money they're placing on SpaceX's valuation when you only think about the rocket business. The $1.75 trillion valuation goes much deeper than that and mostly comes from Starlink. If you haven't heard of Starlink, it's SpaceX's satellite internet service, and it's growing like crazy. The service brought in around $16 billion in revenue and $7.5 billion in EBITDA in 2025, with 9.2 million subscribers across 150 countries, doubling its user base for two straight years. The rockets were the reason that SpaceX could build Starlink so cheaply, but Starlink is the business that can actually justify the valuation.

Speaking of rockets, the launch side is impressive too. SpaceX conducted over 160 launches in 2025, more than half of all launches by every company and nation state on Earth combined. SpaceX reuses its Falcon 9 rockets over and over. One booster has flown 32 times. Because they don't have to build a new rocket for every launch, they can charge less than everyone else and still turn a profit.

The IPO Details

The five banks leading the deal are Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley, with 16 other banks in smaller supporting roles. SpaceX executives will pitch institutional investors at the roadshow, planned for the week of June 8th. The day before that, around 125 financial analysts from the 21 banks involved are scheduled to sit down with the company.

What stands out to me is how SpaceX is handling the retail investor angle. SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen told the group of bankers that "retail is going to be a critical part of this and a bigger part than any IPO in history." They are planning to host 1,500 retail investors at a major event on June 11th, and everyday investors in the UK, EU, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Korea will also be able to participate. This is how they differ form other companies. SpaceX has always had a massive fanbase of regular people who have followed their launches for years, and they want those people to be part of the IPO.

Where Musk Comes In

You cannot talk about SpaceX without talking about Elon Musk, and right now that is a pretty complicated topic for the company. We all know Musk is the reason SpaceX exists and the reason it has pushed as hard as it has. But recently, his political involvement over the past couple of years has created friction. There are real concerns about how his public profile could affect government contracts, which SpaceX depends on heavily for revenue.

SpaceX also merged with Musk's AI company xAI in February 2026, which pushed its combined valuation from $1.25 trillion to the current $1.75 trillion target. The merger links SpaceX more closely to Musk's other companies, which might make some investors nervous. But it's also part of a bigger plan: using space to power AI. Musk has mentioned a lot of plans involving advanced data centers to further his AI ambitions.

The Market Timing Question

The IPO market coming into 2026 was supposed to be a big year for tech listings, but things have been bumpier than expected. Early 2026 was "much slower than was expected" according to Crunchbase research lead Gene Teare, even as overall U.S. IPO proceeds improved from 2024 levels. Tariff concerns and macro uncertainty have made investors cautious.

SpaceX is in a different category than most of the companies waiting to go public. The demand is clearly there. Prominent investors like Baron Capital's Ron Baron have said roughly a quarter of his personal investments are in SpaceX, and it is one of the largest positions in ARK's Venture Fund run by Cathie Wood. The IPO is going to happen. The real question is whether $1.75 trillion holds up in a shaky market. At that price, SpaceX would be trading at somewhere between 62 and 68 times its current year sales, which is a big number even for a fast-growing company.

Looking at the Future

If the IPO goes well, the $75 billion raised would fund a few things. Space-based data centers are one. Starship development is another. Starship is SpaceX's next-generation rocket, fully reusable and much larger than Falcon 9, and it is what actually gets people to Mars. The more successful Starship becomes, the more the rest of SpaceX's ambitions become doable.

Starlink still has a lot of room to grow too. It's already an established business, but the total market for satellite internet globally is massive, especially in rural and underserved areas where it is often the only available option. Something that will help is the newer feature that lets regular phones connect straight to Starlink, no extra equipment needed. That could push subscriber numbers way up and grow the company even further.

SpaceX going public doesn't change the original goals Elon had, it just gives him a better shot at reaching them. And by letting his everyday fans invest, he's betting they'll be along for the ride.