(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
When Elon Musk took Tesla (TSLA) to market in June 2010, the electric vehicle maker raised more than $226 million in its initial public offering (IPO). That pales in comparison to General Motors (GM), which raised roughly $20 billion in its November 2010 offering, when the automaker returned to the public markets after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009.
Tesla has grown into a trillion-dollar company and the biggest U.S. automaker by market capitalization. The stock has also averaged an annual return of 42.6% since it began trading, outpacing the broader S&P 500 by 31.7 percentage points.
Musk will soon have his redemption on the IPO stage, with the entrepreneur preparing to take SpaceX, his space exploration and satellite company, public in what is projected to be the biggest IPO ever.
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What is SpaceX?
Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, intending to lower costs for space launches and eventually build a livable colony on Mars. The company had its first successful space launch in 2008 and has since had more than 650 total launches. It also wants to build data centers in space.
“A key to its success has been a relentless focus on innovation,” writes Kiplinger contributor Tom Taulli in his feature on the hottest upcoming IPOs to watch for. “The company’s breakthroughs include reusable orbital rockets, which have greatly reduced the costs of space flights; vertical rocket landings; and onboard autonomous systems.”
In 2015, SpaceX moved to diversify its revenue stream with Starlink, a satellite internet project that today provides coverage to roughly 10 million customers across 160 countries and territories. It also has contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense to provide satellite service through its Starshield segment to government and military organizations, including with Ukraine during its war with Russia.
The global space economy is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2034, according to Novaspace.
Geopolitical conflicts are increasing the demand for satellites, and the conflict in the Middle East shows “how space tech is crucial for missile warning and tracking, communications, surveillance, drone and vehicle connectivity, and more,” writes John Miley, senior associate editor at The Kiplinger Letter.
SpaceX also bought xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) company that owns X (formerly Twitter), in February 2026 in an all-stock deal valued at roughly $250 billion. In May, Musk announced that xAI is fully absorbed by SpaceX and will rebrand as SpaceXAI.
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The company’s actual fundamentals won’t be available to us until its S-1 filing is made public by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But Morningstar, citing data from PitchBook, estimates it had annual revenue of $15.8 billion in 2025 — the majority of which came from Starlink. Projections are for SpaceX’s top line to grow to $19.9 billion in 2026 and reach $149.4 billion by 2040.
EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is expected to grow from an estimated $7.5 billion in 2025 to $95 billion in 2040.
SpaceX is certainly poised to benefit from surging growth in the global space economy, which is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2034, according to Novaspace, up from $626 billion in 2025. “The U.S., led by SpaceX launching 85% of spacecraft into orbit and its Starlink Internet service, reaps most of the business,” says Miley.
When is the SpaceX IPO date?
SpaceX confidentially filed its IPO paperwork with the SEC in early April, targeting a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion, according to Reuters. This would make it the seventh-largest publicly traded company by market cap — and put it just ahead of Tesla.
This valuation also suggests the company could raise between $50 billion and $75 billion in its offering, which would make it the largest IPO ever, easily exceeding the current record holder — Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) and its $21.8 billion offering in 2014.
SpaceX’s $1.75 to $ 2 trillion valuation suggests the company could raise between $50 billion and $75 billion in its offering, making it the largest IPO ever.
The exact date of the SpaceX IPO is unknown at this time, but it’s likely to occur in June 2026, with the roadshow expected to kick off the week of June 8. The general purpose of the roadshow is to generate interest and build momentum.
It’s also unclear at this point whether SpaceX stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the Nasdaq and what its ticker will be. We’ll keep you updated as the information is released.
Should you buy the SpaceX IPO?
“An initial public offering enables a private company to ‘go public,’ or start trading in public markets, by issuing its own shares on a stock exchange for the first time. In this way, any investor can buy shares and the company can raise capital to grow,” Taulli writes in his article, “What Is an Initial Public Offering (IPO)?“.
But buyer beware: IPOs can be volatile — especially for retail investors. And in the “froth and frenzy, opportunities mix with peril,” writes David Milstead, senior associate editor at the Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine. “The safest course may be to wait for companies to settle in some months after their debut, after one or two quarterly earnings reports.”
Investors should also be aware of the Musk Effect, which refers to the impact Elon Musk’s actions and commentary have had on Tesla — both on and off the price chart. As one example, Tesla’s revenue and share price slumped in early 2025 in part because of backlash related to Musk’s time at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Another reason to possibly hold off on buying SpaceX stock is the Nasdaq’s new “fast entry” rule that speeds up the process of adding new companies to its Nasdaq-100 index.
Investors should also be aware of the Musk Effect, which refers to the impact Elon Musk’s actions and commentary have had on Tesla — both on and off the price chart.
“Under the new rules (PDF), which went into effect on May 1, newly public mega caps would be eligible for inclusion after just 15 trading days – and with only five days of prior market notice,” writes Kiplinger contributor Dan Burrows.
Given that “a longer waiting period informs price discovery,” Burrows explains, “it’s fair to say passive investors won’t be getting the best price” on these newly public companies.
The bottom line: whether or not you buy the SpaceX IPO comes down to your own risk tolerance and personal investing goals. If you do decide to buy shares of SpaceX stock when it first begins trading, do so in a small amount that you can afford to lose and have a trading plan in place.
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