Musk Confirms SpaceX IPO for 2026
Space company targets $1.5 trillion valuation in what could be the largest public offering ever. Starlink spin-off plans shelved.
SpaceX is going public this year.
Elon Musk confirmed reports of a 2026 initial public offering late last month, saying the company plans to list the entire enterprise rather than spinning off Starlink separately. The move could deliver the largest IPO in history, surpassing Saudi Aramco's $29.4 billion offering in 2019.
SpaceX is reportedly targeting a valuation around $1.5 trillion. At that level, it would immediately rank among the world's 10 most valuable public companies.
Why Now?
SpaceX has been the crown jewel of private markets for over a decade.
The company raised capital at progressively higher valuations—$350 billion in late 2024, then $1.2 trillion in mid-2025—while investors competed for allocation. But private market liquidity has limits, and early investors and employees are pushing for an exit.
Going public unlocks several advantages. SpaceX gets access to public equity markets for future raises. Employees can sell shares without waiting for secondary transactions. And the company gains acquisition currency for potential deals.
The timing coincides with a favorable IPO environment. After a slow 2023 and 2024, the IPO market rebounded in 2025 with proceeds jumping 39% globally. That momentum has carried into 2026.
What SpaceX Owns
The company operates three distinct businesses.
Starlink is the cash generator. The satellite internet service now has over 4 million subscribers across 70+ countries, generating an estimated $8-10 billion in annual revenue. Margins are expanding as the constellation scales and ground equipment costs decline.
Launch Services remains the market leader. SpaceX conducted over 100 orbital launches in 2025, capturing roughly 70% of global commercial launch mass. Reusability through the Falcon 9 program has driven costs to levels competitors struggle to match.
Starship is the moonshot—literally. The next-generation rocket is designed for Mars colonization, lunar missions, and point-to-point Earth transport. It's years from profitability but represents the long-term growth story.
The question for public investors: how do you value a company with a stable cash-generating satellite business, a dominant launch franchise, and a speculative interplanetary venture?
Valuation Debate
$1.5 trillion is an extraordinary number.
For context, that's more than Tesla's current market cap. It's roughly equal to Alphabet. It values SpaceX at perhaps 150x Starlink revenue, depending on which estimates you use.
Bulls argue the multiple is justified. Starlink is growing 40%+ annually with expanding margins. The launch business has pricing power no competitor can challenge. And Starship, if successful, creates optionality that's impossible to model.
Bears counter that space is capital-intensive, regulatory-constrained, and cyclical. Amazon's Project Kuiper will compete with Starlink. Blue Origin is ramping launch capacity. Government contracts that fund much of SpaceX's development can shift with political winds.
IPO Structure Questions
Several mechanics remain unclear.
SpaceX hasn't announced which exchange it will list on, though Nasdaq or NYSE are most likely. The company hasn't disclosed how many shares it will offer or what percentage of the company will float publicly.
Musk's control is also uncertain. He currently owns roughly 42% of SpaceX equity and has maintained tight control over company decisions. Public investors may demand governance changes—dual-class share structures, independent board seats, or separation of CEO and chairman roles.
Given Musk's experience with Tesla's volatile stock and contentious relationship with public market investors, the structure of the SpaceX offering will be closely scrutinized.
Other 2026 IPO Candidates
SpaceX headlines a potentially transformative year for tech IPOs.
OpenAI is reportedly preparing a funding round that could imply valuations between $830 billion and $1 trillion. A direct listing or traditional IPO could follow.
Anthropic, the Claude AI developer backed by Google and Amazon, is also considering going public in 2026 according to the Financial Times.
Databricks, the data analytics platform, has been public-ready for years and may finally pull the trigger.
The Starlink-specific IPO analysis we published earlier this month explored the satellite business in isolation. Musk's decision to list the entire company changes the calculus—investors will need to value the whole SpaceX ecosystem, not just the internet arm.
What Happens Next
Expect a formal S-1 filing in the coming months.
The document will reveal SpaceX's actual financials for the first time—revenue, margins, growth rates, and capital requirements that have been estimated by analysts but never disclosed publicly.
For traders, SpaceX's IPO creates secondary effects. Companies like Intuitive Machines, Rocket Lab, and AST SpaceMobile could see volatility as investors recalibrate space sector valuations. Equipment suppliers and launch customers may also move.
The largest IPO ever would be a market event. Whether it marks a top in private market exuberance or validates a new era of space commercialization remains to be seen.