(Feb 28): SpaceX is targeting filing confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO) as soon as next month, according to people familiar with the matter, as billionaire Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company moves forward with plans for the biggest-ever listing.
The Starbase, Texas-based firm expects to submit its draft IPO registration to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in March, the people said. Such a move would keep it on track for a June listing, making it the first of what could be a trio of mega-IPOs, with OpenAI and Anthropic PBC potentially coming after.
Considerations are ongoing, details could change and SpaceX could still delay its filing, the people said.
SpaceX could seek a valuation in the IPO of more than US$1.75 trillion ($2.21 trillion), some of the people said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private. It acquired Musk’s artificial intelligence start-up xAI in a February deal that valued the enlarged entity at US$1.25 trillion, Bloomberg News has reported.
In a confidential filing, companies can receive feedback from the regulator and make changes before the information becomes public.
A representative for SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comments.
See also: UI Boustead REIT lodges IPO prospectus for $1.9 bil commercial property portfolio
A listing for SpaceX would raise as much as US$50 billion, people familiar with the preparations have said. At that size, it would be larger than the current record holder, Saudi Aramco’s US$29 billion debut in 2019.
At a US$1.75 trillion market value, SpaceX would be bigger than all but five of the companies in the S&P 500 Index — Nvidia Corp, Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc. It would be larger by that metric than Meta Platforms Inc, as well as Musk’s own Tesla Inc.
Satellite TV and wireless provider EchoStar Corp has a stake in SpaceX as the result of wireless spectrum sales last year to Musk’s firm. EchoStar shares surged as much as 10% on Friday, the most since December.
See also: SpaceX’s mega IPO redraws 2026 road map for listing hopefuls
In a memo, SpaceX said it’s preparing for a possible IPO in 2026 that would be aimed at funding an “insane flight rate” for its developmental Starship rocket, artificial intelligence data centres in space and a base on the moon.
SpaceX has lined up Bank of America Corp, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley for senior roles on the IPO, people familiar with the matter have said. The company is considering a dual-class share structure in the IPO that would potentially give insiders such as Musk extra voting power to dominate decision making, Bloomberg News has reported.
The world’s most prolific rocket launcher, SpaceX dominates the space industry with its Falcon 9 rocket that lifts satellites and people to orbit. The company is focused on building out a base on the moon before pursuing its long-held mission of sending humans to Mars, Musk has said.
SpaceX is also the industry leader in providing internet services from low-Earth orbit through Starlink, a system of thousands of satellites that serves millions of customers.
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee
