Elon Musk’s SpaceX has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, a monumental step that positions the aerospace and AI behemoth for what could be the largest stock market debut in history. The company submitted its draft registration to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, putting it on a trajectory for a potential June listing.
The offering could eclipse all previous records, with reports suggesting SpaceX may seek to raise between $75 billion and $80 billion. Such a figure would dwarf the current record held by Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion listing in 2019. The company is reportedly targeting a valuation of more than $1.75 trillion, a staggering figure that reflects its recent strategic consolidation and ambitious future plans.
This move brings SpaceX, a company headquartered in Hawthorne, California, closer to the public markets after years of private growth and speculation. The confidential filing allows SpaceX and the SEC to review and amend the offering documents privately before they are made available to the public. Key details, such as the number of shares to be offered and a target price range, are expected in a later, public filing.
A new era for space and AI
The SpaceX IPO is anticipated to be the first in a trio of mega-IPOs expected in 2026, setting the stage for public offerings from high-profile artificial intelligence firms OpenAI and Anthropic PBC later in the year. SpaceX's decision to list first underscores a strategic shift for the company, which recently absorbed Musk’s AI startup, xAI, in a deal valuing the combined entity at $1.25 trillion.
For years, Musk stated that SpaceX would remain private until its Starship rockets were making regular trips to Mars. However, the mission has evolved. The IPO is now seen as a critical funding mechanism for Musk's new ambition: building a network of data centres in space. This initiative, powered by the merger with xAI, would leverage SpaceX's launch capabilities and Starlink satellite network to create an unparalleled AI infrastructure, aiming to establish dominance in the next frontier of artificial intelligence. This is a significant policy area for the state, with past policy discussions, such as when the tech sector warned NZ prosperity was at risk, highlighting the need for urgent reform.
While SpaceX’s core rocket and satellite divisions are projected to generate nearly $20 billion in revenue in 2026, the nascent xAI is expected to contribute less than $1 billion. The public offering is designed to provide the massive capital injection needed to scale xAI and its space-based data centre project, allowing it to compete with heavily funded rivals like OpenAI.
Details of the landmark offering emerge
A consortium of Wall Street’s biggest names has been assembled to manage the offering. Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley have been tapped for senior roles. An international syndicate of banks will also manage orders from specific regions, including Barclays for the United Kingdom, Deutsche Bank and UBS Group for Europe, Royal Bank of Canada for Canada, Mizuho Financial Group for Asia, and Macquarie Group for Australia.
In preparation for the launch, SpaceX is reportedly planning to hold "testing-the-waters" meetings with prospective investors this month. These briefings will provide executives with an opportunity to justify the company’s lofty valuation target.
To maintain control, the company is considering a dual-class share structure, a common tool in tech IPOs that grants insiders like Musk superior voting rights. In a nod to broadening its investor base, SpaceX may also allocate as much as 30 per cent of the offering to retail investors, an unusually high proportion for such a large IPO.
Market rallies on IPO excitement
The news of SpaceX’s filing has already sent ripples across the financial markets, igniting a rally among publicly traded space-related companies. On Wednesday, shares for Firefly Aerospace surged 19 per cent, while Intuitive Machines jumped 11 per cent. Other beneficiaries included AST SpaceMobile, EchoStar Corporation, and Rocket Lab Corporation, which saw gains between 8 and 9 per cent.
EchoStar, a satellite telecommunications company, is viewed by some investors as a way to gain exposure to the sector following a $17 billion wireless spectrum deal it made with SpaceX in September 2025. The rally signals strong investor optimism that the SpaceX IPO will catalyse a new phase of growth for the entire space industry, moving it from a speculative play to a mainstream investment sector.
The IPO would give SpaceX the firepower to accelerate its operations in infrastructure, connectivity, and AI-powered services. SpaceX is no longer just a rocket and satellite company, it's quietly becoming a compute powerhouse, combining Starlink connectivity, energy and transport infrastructure, and xAI's AI clusters into a vertically integrated ecosystem.
From rockets to a 'compute powerhouse'
SpaceX has fundamentally transformed the aerospace industry. Its Falcon 9 rocket has become the workhorse of global satellite deployment, dominating the launch market with its reusability and reliability. The company is also the world’s leading provider of satellite internet through its Starlink constellation, which consists of thousands of satellites providing service to millions of customers in remote and underserved areas globally.
While the company's long-term vision remains sending humans to Mars and establishing a permanent base on the moon, the immediate focus has pivoted to this integration of space infrastructure and AI. The market's enthusiasm is palpable, but the move is not without scrutiny. Plans by the Nasdaq to potentially alter its rules to fast-track SpaceX's entry into the Nasdaq 100 index drew criticism from prominent financial figures, highlighting the offering's unprecedented scale and influence.
As the company prepares to release its long-secret financials, investors and the public will get their first detailed look at the financial health of an enterprise that operates at the nexus of space exploration, global communications, and cutting-edge artificial intelligence. The upcoming investor briefings will be the next key indicator of whether the market believes the company can truly reach the stars, both literally and financially.
