When will SpaceX IPO and how can investors gain exposure before it does?

Few companies capture the imagination of investors quite like SpaceX. Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, the company has reshaped a rapidly expanding global space economy. Now that Space Exploration Technologies – the company’s formal name – has filed its highly anticipated prospectus with US regulators, interest has surged in its forthcoming initial public offering (IPO). 

The space economy: no longer science fiction

The space industry has moved from a government‑led niche into a broad commercial ecosystem. According to the Space Foundation, the global space economy reached $613 billion in 2024, growing by 7.8% year‑on‑year, with commercial activity accounting for 78% of total value. Other analysts estimate the figure rose to approximately $626 billion in 2025 and expect it to exceed $1 trillion by the early‑to‑mid 2030s.

Long‑term forecasts are even more ambitious. A joint World Economic Forum and McKinsey report suggests the space economy could reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, driven by satellite communications, Earth observation, defence, navigation services and broader “space‑enabled” applications across the global economy. 

Central to this growth has been a dramatic fall in the cost of accessing space, which is where SpaceX has played a starring role.

How SpaceX has brought down the cost of launches

Historically, launching satellites or other payloads into orbit was prohibitively expensive. NASA’s Space Shuttle programme cost an estimated $54,000 per kilogram to low‑Earth orbit (LEO). But SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket has reduced that figure to as little as $1,500 per kilogram, a cost reduction of around 97%, and its planned Starship model could further decimate costs and outpace its smaller competitors.

This cost reduction has been achieved through a high frequency of launches. using reusable rockets and a policy of vertical integration – manufacturing most components in‑house so to not pay mark-up to suppliers.

Lower launch costs have made economic activities like large satellite constellations viable for the first time, helping to unlock new commercial demand across the sector. SpaceX dominates the global launch market by volume, accounting for over 60% of all orbital launches in 2025. This provides revenue from government contracts (including NASA and defence agencies) as well as commercial satellite launches.

SpaceX: not just a rocket company

Although SpaceX is best known for its pioneering rocket launch services, these are relatively lower margin compared to SpaceX’s other activities. 

The Starlink network of over 9,000 satellites, which provides internet connectivity across the globe, has become the company’s financial engine. As of early 2026, Starlink has over 10mn active subscribers across more than 150 countries, operating the world’s largest satellite constellation. Reported revenue reached around $11–12bn in 2025, representing a majority of SpaceX’s total income and most of its operating cash flow. 

Starlink’s recurring subscription revenues help fund capital‑intensive projects such as rocket development, helping reduce the requirement for outside cash to expand.

SpaceX also owns xAI, which develops the chatbot Grok and owns the social media network X (formerly Twitter). Analysts suggest these AI capabilities could support satellite traffic optimisation, Earth observation analytics and potentially space based data processing, though meaningful revenues here remain largely unproven.

In theory, these three divisions help support one another: cheap launches help Starlink, generate cash, Starlink’s growing revenue supports capital investment, and AI – which may ultimately utilise space-based solar power to scale – could enhance network and data capabilities.

Further growth could be driven by the Terafab project – a joint effort between SpaceX and Tesla – which aims to bring computer chip design and manufacturing entirely in-house to meet the demands of both these companies’ needs and position them as leaders in AI technology and infrastructure.

The SpaceX IPO: What we know so far

At present, SpaceX is a privately held company, so most investors can’t buy SpaceX stock directly. However, that will now change via an IPO (Initial Public Offering), the process by which a private company lists its shares on a public stock exchange, allowing ordinary investors to buy and sell them.  

The arrival of SpaceX's paperwork on 20th May means it is poised to list sometime in June 2026 under the ticker "SPCX" on the Nasdaq stock exchange. While indications of the stock price of the offer will come later, it is widely expected to be the biggest IPO in history with a value of between $1.75 and $2 trillion. 

This would make SpaceX one of the largest publicly listed companies in the world, comparable in size to today’s technology giants. The purpose of the IPO is to raise tens of billions of dollars to fund the Starship rocket programme, expansion of the Starlink network, as well as AI and infrastructure projects. 

Once SpaceX goes public, you’ll be able to buy its shares like any other, but in the meantime, there are ways you can gain a small slice of exposure to SpaceX pre-IPO as it is held by several investment trusts in significant size.  

Investment trusts backing SpaceX

The fund manager Baillie Gifford first invested in SpaceX in 2018, becoming one of the company's early institutional backers. The investment was made through several of their trusts that offer some exposure to private markets, including Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, part of the Charles Stanley Direct Preferred List, which has maintained a significant, long-term stake. It has grown to represent over 18% of its portfolio, making it the largest holding currently. 

Table: Investment Trusts with significant exposure to SpaceX