Elon Musk’s SpaceX is on the verge of what looks set to be one of the largest initial public offerings (IPOs) when its shares begin trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York, US, on 12 June
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) shares will be priced at US$135 per share for its initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York, US, on 12 June, with Elon Musk’s company aiming to raise US$74.4Bn of net proceeds from this offering, or US$85.7Bn if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock in full.
It its prospectus, SpaceX said it would use these huge funds to further develop its launch infrastructure and vehicles, extend its use of artificial intelligence (AI), including in space, and expand its Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation.
“We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to fund our growth strategy, including the expansion of our AI compute infrastructure and enhancements to our launch infrastructure and launch vehicles,” SpaceX said, “and increases in the scale and capacity of our satellite constellations, and any remaining amounts for general corporate purposes.”
A considerable amount of funding, and shareholder interest, will go into SpaceX’s Starship launcher and its programmes to reach Mars and build facilities on the Moon.
First launched in 2023, Starship is designed to be a fully reusable, super-heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of delivering 100 tonnes into Earth orbit and enabling rapid turnaround times. Future generations of Starship are being designed to double this payload capacity.
To date, SpaceX has executed 12 Starship flight tests, with its 12th flight test in May 2026, debuting the next-generation Starship vehicle and super-heavy booster, powered by the Raptor engine and launching from a newly designed pad at Starbase.
SpaceX expects Starship to commence payload delivery into orbit in H2 2026. Its innovations of recapturing the booster after use and the “chopstick” arms on the same tower it launched from could “facilitate rapid refurbishment and reuse, and multiple launches per day at reduced costs,” the company said.
This could enable SpaceX to launch a second and third generation of Starlink LEO satellites far more rapidly than using its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets can currently do so.
