If the flotation proceeds as planned, it would sit just below Saudi Aramco’s record-setting $1.7 trillion IPO in 2019.
According to reporting from Bloomberg, SpaceX executives and advisers are advancing plans for the listing, which would seek to raise well over $30 billion and cement the company’s position at the centre of the rapidly expanding commercial space industry.
Musk, 54, founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of revolutionising space travel by slashing launch costs and making human missions to Mars viable. Over the past two decades, the company has reshaped the global launch market, fielding its reusable Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets and becoming the partner of choice for governments, satellite operators and private clients.
The company has also built a substantial second revenue engine with Starlink, its global broadband satellite network. Musk said in June that SpaceX expects to generate $15.5 billion in revenue this year, driven heavily by the growth of Starlink subscribers worldwide. By next year, he predicts the company’s commercial space revenues will surpass NASA’s launch and spaceflight budget, which stands at around $1.1 billion.
Starship — the 400-ft launch system Musk has pitched as essential for transporting cargo and ultimately humans to the Moon and Mars — remains a central pillar of SpaceX’s ambitions. Although still in development and testing, Starship is expected to underpin NASA’s Artemis programme and future deep-space missions.
SpaceX’s operational cadence has reached unprecedented levels. In 2024, the company completed a record 134 Falcon launches, becoming the most prolific launch provider in the world. This year, it is tracking toward 170 launches, fuelled by demand for satellite deployment, commercial contracts and military work.
Its aggressive expansion has made SpaceX a frontrunner for major defence programmes, including President Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defence shield, which would rely on advanced satellites to detect aircraft and missile threats.
A $1.5 trillion IPO would not only dwarf most previous technology listings but would also underscore the shift in global aerospace leadership, with SpaceX moving far beyond its early role as a scrappy NASA contractor to become the dominant force in commercial launch, satellite broadband and next-generation space infrastructure.
Jamie Young
Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the 'covid era' and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine's coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk
