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SpaceX filed its S-1 (a formal IPO registration document submitted to US regulators) on 20 May 2026. The IPO roadshow is expected to kick off on 8 June, with trading likely in late June 2026 under the ticker SPCX.
| Founded | 2002 |
| Founder | Elon Musk |
| Headquarters | Starbase, Texas, USA |
| Full legal name | Space Exploration Technologies Corp. |
| Employees | 22,000+ |
| Starlink subscribers | ~10.3 million |
| Operational satellites | ~10,000 |
| 2025 revenue | $18.67 billion |
| Target IPO valuation | $2 trillion |
| Ticker | SPCX |
| Stock exchange | Nasdaq / Nasdaq Texas |
Sources: SpaceX S-1 filing, 20 May 2026
SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in 2002. It initially aimed to develop reusable rockets and has evolved into NASA's primary launch partner, conducting over half of all global orbital launches. Its principal services include rocket launch operations with the Falcon 9 and the Starship, the latter aimed at drastically reducing orbital costs. Falcon 9 has already achieved over a 95% cost reduction versus the Space Shuttle, with clients spanning NASA, the US Department of Defence, and private satellite operators.
SpaceX’s satellite internet service Starlink is its main source of revenue. It serves around 10.3 million subscribers with approximately 10,000 satellites in low Earth orbit and generated $3.26 billion in Q1 2026, accounting for 69% of total revenue. In 2025, Starlink reported an operating profit of $1.19 billion and total income of $4.4 billion, marking it as SpaceX’s only profitable segment.
In February 2026, SpaceX merged with Musk’s AI startup xAI, which also acquired X (formerly Twitter). Plans are to integrate all AI initiatives under the SpaceX brand. The AI division currently represents the most significant financial losses for SpaceX, with xAI reporting $6.4 billion in losses for 2025, influenced by a 300% increase in R&D expenditures exceeding $5 billion.
xAI's Grok chatbot competes against major players such as ChatGPT and Gemini and has encountered difficulties in gaining market traction, coupled with legal challenges in the US and Europe regarding deepfake technologies.
Behind the scenes, the profitability of frontier AI applications remains uncertain due to substantial operational costs, a challenge amplified by the fact that Musk admitted Grok’s early infrastructure decisions were flawed, necessitating extensive rebuilding. Consequently, xAI poses the largest risk to earnings and SpaceX's valuation, with the company's long-term success hinging on whether the AI division can achieve commercial viability.
Functioning as a landlord for data centres, SpaceX has made a deal with AI company Anthropic, which will pay $1.25 billion monthly until May 2029 for exclusive use of the Colossus 1 data centre in Memphis, originally designed for xAI. Anthropic is also exploring collaborations with SpaceX to develop extensive compute capabilities in space.
SpaceX also aims to deploy orbital data centres by 2028 and seeks FCC approval to launch up to one million satellites to create a space-based compute network, which could prove more cost-effective than ground-based systems.
| Segment | Q1 2026 revenue | Q1 2026 operating result |
| Connectivity (Starlink) | $3.26bn | +$1.19bn profit |
| Space (launch) | — | -$619m loss |
| AI (xAI / X) | — | -$2.5bn loss |
| Total | $4.69bn | -$1.9bn loss |
Full-year 2025 revenue for SpaceX reached $18.67 billion, a 33% increase year-on-year. By Q1 2026, cash reserves decreased to about $16 billion from $25 billion, with total liabilities at $60.5 billion primarily due to the X/xAI merger. Long-term debt is around $29 billion. The financials indicate that Starlink is subsidising other ventures, while a $2 trillion IPO valuation suggests analysts are anticipating $1 trillion in future value from currently unprofitable businesses.
SpaceX is officially going public under the ticker symbol SPCX. It has applied to dually list its shares on both the Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas (which offers some regulatory benefits). The company plans to start its promotional efforts to attract institutional investors (roadshow) on 8 June 2026, with trading on the open market anticipated to start in late June.
This IPO is expected to generate more than $70 billion, overtaking Saudi Aramco's $29.4 billion IPO in 2020, and setting the record for the largest public offering ever. Historical performance from prior high-profile listings indicates potential significant volatility, especially considering the scale of this operation. For example, Saudi Aramco initially surged 10% above its offering price before retracting, while Facebook experienced an 11% decline on its second trading day. Key factors affecting SPCX's early trading will include its dual-class share structure and the selling pressure from early investors.
Goldman Sachs serves as the lead-left underwriter for the offering, anchoring the IPO with primary responsibility over valuation, pricing, and share allocation. Morgan Stanley follows as co-lead and has been designated as the stabilisation agent to support the stock post-debut. Rounding out the lead tier of the 23-bank syndicate are Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase, who are also named prominently on the cover of the prospectus.
SpaceX operates under a dual-class share structure, common in founder-led tech companies, providing insiders significantly more voting power than regular investors. Class A shares, available to the public, offer one vote each, while Class B shares, held by insiders, grant ten votes per share and the right to elect a majority of board members.
Currently, there are about 6.9 billion Class A shares and 6.5 billion Class B shares. Elon Musk holds 85% of the Class B shares and 12.3% of Class A shares, which gives him 41% of the total shares but 85% of the voting power. This concentration of control means that investors in the IPO will have minimal influence over company decisions, as no other entity holds more than 5% of the voting power.
| Name | Role | Shares |
| Elon Musk | CEO | 849.5m Class A + 5.57bn Class B (85% of vote) |
| Gwynne Shotwell | President & COO | 5.46m Class A + 7.1m Class B |
| Antonio Gracias | Board member / Valor Equity CEO | 503.4m Class A (7.3% of total) |
| Ira Ehrenpreis | Board member | Class B (amount undisclosed) |
In January 2026, Musk was granted one billion performance-based restricted shares, contingent on SpaceX achieving a market capitalisation of $7.5 trillion and establishing a permanent human colony on Mars with one million inhabitants. An additional 302 million shares vest if the orbital data centre computing capacity reaches 100 terawatts.
Both awards necessitate Musk's continued employment through the certification date. For traders, this implies that Class A shareholders have limited ability to hold management accountable, especially if Musk's priorities change, as seen with Tesla during his distractions. President and COO Gwynne Shotwell's total compensation for 2025 amounted to approximately $86 million, with the majority in options, and a base salary around $1.1 million.
Elon Musk, already the world’s richest person with a net worth of $667 billion as of May 20, 2026, could soon become history's first trillionaire. This milestone hinges entirely on the blockbuster $2 trillion target valuation for the SpaceX public debut. A successful listing would instantly push his combined personal assets past the trillion-dollar threshold, while cementing his status as the leader of two mega-cap giants, alongside Tesla's $1.3 trillion to $1.6 trillion market capitalization.
IPOs at this scale can carry certain risk. Investors considering exposure to SpaceX should weigh the following factors:
SpaceX's impending public offering is projected to be a massive benchmark for the tech sector, likely setting the investment tone for upcoming mega-offerings from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. This initial public offering stands out as it marks the first opportunity for retail investors to engage with the Musk ecosystem outside of Tesla. The listing could potentially shift market dynamics, especially regarding institutional capital. Some fund managers may migrate capital from Tesla to SpaceX upon listing, meaning current Tesla shareholders must remain vigilant about potential valuation pressure.
The context surrounding SpaceX is highly similar to Tesla's early days when it was deemed a purely speculative investment before evolving into a trillion-dollar enterprise. It indicates that markets are increasingly pricing Musk’s companies based on long-term systemic potential rather than immediate earnings.
Axi Market Analyst Milan Cutkovic noted:
“SpaceX is preparing to go public in what would be the first IPO of a U.S. company with a market value exceeding one trillion dollars. The IPO will have a significant impact on the broader market, as it is expected to trigger large-scale systematic portfolio rebalancing and could benefit smaller stocks across the aerospace sector. The stock itself may benefit in the short term from the hype and the “Musk effect,” but concerns about its valuation are likely to come to the fore eventually."
An IPO is an investor's first opportunity to gain exposure to a company on the public market. With Axi, you can trade SpaceX CFDs as soon as the stock is listed on a specific exchange and prices become available from our liquidity providers.
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This information is not to be construed as a recommendation; or an offer to buy or sell; or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security, financial product, or instrument; or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without taking your objectives, financial situation and needs into account. Any references to past performance and forecasts are not reliable indicators of future results. Axi makes no representation and assumes no liability with regard to the accuracy and completeness of the content in this publication. Readers should seek their own advice.
FAQ
SpaceX filed its S-1 on 20 May 2026. The roadshow is expected to begin on 8 June 2026, with the listing likely in late June. The IPO date has not been officially confirmed.
No, CFD trading on SPCX requires the stock to be listed and priced by liquidity providers. Pre-IPO exposure isn't available through Axi.
IPO-day spreads are typically wider than normal as liquidity providers calibrate to early price action. We'd recommend checking the platform at open rather than assuming standard spread conditions apply.
Not overall. Starlink (the Connectivity segment) is highly profitable, generating $4.4 billion in operating profit in 2025. However, the AI segment (xAI) lost $6.4 billion in the same period, and the Space segment lost $619 million. The company recorded a net loss of $4.94 billion for the full year in 2025.
