Elon Musk’s SpaceX is looking to raise more than US$25-billion through an initial public offering in 2026, a move that could boost the company’s valuation to over US$1-trillion, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The company’s move towards a public listing, which could rank among the largest global IPOs, has been largely driven by the rapid expansion of its Starlink satellite internet business, including plans for direct-to-mobile service and progress in its Starship rocket programme for moon and Mars missions.
SpaceX has started discussions with banks about launching the offering around June or July, the person said, requesting anonymity to discuss confidential information. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Talks over a listing plan are unfolding against the backdrop of a resurgence in the IPO market in 2025 after a three-year dry spell. Wall Street’s top executives expect the momentum to carry into 2026, turbocharged by a pipeline of high-profile companies preparing to test investor demand.
“SpaceX represents one of the most exciting opportunities in the global IPO market and has been on the dream list of several investors for years,” said Samuel Kerr, head of equity capital markets at Mergermarket.
“It is a genuine growth industry, with space technology seen as a key frontier in both defence, satellite proliferation and in tech infrastructure in general the growth of orbital data centres.”
Revival
Several big start-ups have stayed private for longer and continued to raise capital in private markets, and a listing from a company like SpaceX could prompt more of them to move towards public offerings.
SpaceX ranks as the world’s second most valuable private start-up after ChatGPT maker OpenAI, according to data from Crunchbase. OpenAI and rival Anthropic are also reportedly in talks for an IPO next year.
Read: SpaceX grows impatient over licensing delays for Starlink in SA
“If all these deals come through the US IPO market will experience a genuine revival, the green shoots of which have already been seen this year,” Kerr said.
The news of the potential IPO comes days after a media report that said SpaceX is kicking off a secondary share sale that would value the rocket company at $800-billion. However, Musk dismissed the report, calling it inaccurate.
Saudi Aramco is the only completed IPO to achieve a more than $1-trillion valuation. The state-owned petroleum and natural gas giant debuted in December 2019 with an estimated market capitalisation of $1.7-trillion.
SpaceX expects to use funds from the public listing to develop space-based data centres, including purchasing the chips required to run them, according to Bloomberg News.
Several billionaires and private firms are fuelling a new space race in the US, pouring money into rockets, satellites and lunar missions, including SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin.
With Nasa relying more on commercial partnerships and defence spending rising, the space industry is becoming a high-stakes arena for technological dominance, national security and economic opportunity.
Still, questions about Musk’s ability to run multiple listed companies valued at more than $1-trillion could keep investors cautious, analysts said.
“SpaceX could be one of the most divisive stocks to join the market in years,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. “If SpaceX did float, expect growing pressure on Musk to commit to only one of his listed entities – Tesla or SpaceX. It’s hard to see how one individual could run two $1-trillion-plus companies at the same time.” — Echo Wang, Juby Babu and Manya Saini, (c) 2025 Reuters
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