SpaceX, the trailblazing rocket and artificial intelligence company helmed by Elon Musk, has quietly set the stage for what could become the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history. On April 1, 2026, SpaceX filed confidential paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to reports from Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNBC. The company’s confidential filing—a regulatory maneuver that allows firms to submit financials for review before making them public—puts SpaceX on track for a Wall Street debut as soon as June 2026.
Valued at more than $1 trillion after merging with Musk’s AI venture xAI earlier this year, SpaceX is targeting a capital raise between $50 billion and $75 billion in its IPO, according to The New York Times. That figure dwarfs previous U.S. records: China’s Alibaba raised $22 billion in 2014, while Visa’s 2008 IPO brought in close to $18 billion. If successful, SpaceX’s offering will not only eclipse these numbers but also position it as one of the most valuable companies ever to hit public markets, trailing only Saudi Aramco’s $1.7 trillion valuation at debut.
The confidential nature of the filing means that many specifics—including the exact number of shares to be sold and the final valuation—remain under wraps. However, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CNBC and The Wall Street Journal that the company is aiming for a June listing. If all goes as planned, SpaceX will become the first of a trio of mega-IPOs expected this year, ahead of fellow AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic PBC.
SpaceX’s growth has been nothing short of meteoric since its founding in 2002. Initially launched with the audacious goal of enabling human life on Mars, the company has evolved into NASA’s principal launch partner, especially since the agency retired its space shuttle program in 2011. In 2025 alone, SpaceX completed 165 orbital flights and conducted additional test launches with its next-generation Starship Super Heavy rocket—a vehicle central to Musk’s ambitions for lunar and Martian colonies, as reported by CNN and The New York Times.
The February 2026 merger with xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company, further expanded SpaceX’s reach. The combined entity, valued at $1.25 trillion at the time, now includes Starlink—the satellite internet service powered by a constellation of roughly 10,000 satellites—Grok (xAI’s chatbot), and the social network X (formerly Twitter), which xAI had previously acquired. At the time of the merger, Musk unveiled plans to launch a network of one million satellites to serve as AI data centers, potentially revolutionizing how computational needs are met and sidestepping the limitations of ground-based facilities.
SpaceX’s ambitions don’t stop at rockets and satellites. The company has received more than $24.4 billion in federal contracts since 2008, according to FedScout, including deals with NASA, the Air Force, and the Space Force. Its Starlink service alone generated $8 billion in sales in 2024, with total company revenue projected to reach $15.5 billion in 2025—up from $7.4 billion in 2023, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times. Of that, about $1.1 billion is expected to come from NASA contracts.
Elon Musk stands to gain the most from the upcoming IPO. As of 2022, he owned around 44% of SpaceX, and Forbes estimated his net worth at $823 billion—most of it tied up in SpaceX and Tesla, which itself boasts a market cap around $1.4 trillion. If SpaceX’s public valuation climbs as expected, Musk could become the world’s first person with a 13-figure net worth, making him the only individual to helm two separate trillion-dollar publicly traded companies.
The capital raised from the IPO is earmarked for some truly ambitious projects. SpaceX plans to fund the development of orbital AI data centers, lunar colonies, and, ultimately, human missions to Mars. Some of the proceeds will also be used to support xAI and to pay down debt incurred from Musk’s acquisition of Twitter (now X), as reported by The New York Times. Bankers are reportedly urging SpaceX to maintain a cash reserve of $15 billion to $20 billion to support these capital-intensive endeavors.
Despite the excitement, the timing of the IPO is not without risk. The stock market has been volatile, with the Nasdaq recently experiencing its steepest weekly drop in nearly a year, largely due to the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict and fluctuating oil prices. "You can have a great company, with great fundamentals and a lot of investor interest—and an IPO can still flop if the markets have turned south, if there's too much volatility in the market," warned Reena Aggarwal, a professor of finance at Georgetown and an IPO expert, in an interview with CNBC. "Hopefully the current geopolitical situations will have cooled down by June and there will be less uncertainty."
Still, the appetite for AI and space-related stocks remains strong. Wall Street’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence has propelled companies like Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta to valuations of $1.4 trillion or more. SpaceX’s combination of space exploration and AI innovation places it squarely in the crosshairs of this investment frenzy. As Brett Winton, chief futurist at Ark Invest, told The New York Times, "The amount is commensurate with the size of the opportunity." Ark Invest, a SpaceX investor, has even predicted the company could reach a $2.5 trillion valuation by 2030.
Of course, going public brings new pressures. An IPO will require Musk to disclose more detailed information about SpaceX’s finances and operations—something he has historically resisted. Over the years, Musk has been known for his optimistic (some might say overly ambitious) timelines, whether for Mars missions or for launching orbital data centers. In a recent memo to employees, he claimed that orbital data centers would be the cheapest way to satisfy AI computational needs "within two to three years." He has also spoken about a vision of "sustainable abundance," in which his companies collaborate to end poverty and human drudgery through AI and robotics.
Not everyone is convinced the timing is right. Investment manager Ross Gerber, whose firm invested in Twitter and now holds SpaceX shares, told The New York Times that it’s a "terrible time to go public," citing wars and unpredictable economic conditions. Still, he acknowledged Musk’s need for cash to fund expensive projects and keep his various ventures afloat. "By merging the two losers with one winner, he keeps all the balls in the air. He keeps everything afloat," Gerber said.
Major banks—including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America—are set to underwrite the IPO, collectively poised to collect hundreds of millions in fees. For SpaceX’s executives, employees, and early investors, the offering represents a long-awaited payday, more than two decades in the making.
As the June IPO approaches, all eyes are on SpaceX and Musk. Will the company’s bold vision—and Wall Street’s hunger for innovation—be enough to overcome market jitters and deliver a record-setting debut? The answer will shape not just the future of one company, but perhaps the trajectory of space exploration and artificial intelligence for years to come.