Elon Musk has confirmed reports that SpaceX plans to go public in early June 2026, with a valuation of $1.5 trillion. The announcement underscores the company's overwhelming dominance in the space sector, driven by record rocket launches and cost-cutting innovations. Commentators argue the valuation reflects SpaceX's control over key space infrastructure.
The buzz around SpaceX's potential initial public offering (IPO) ignited on 11 December 2025, when Eric Berger, senior space editor at Ars Technica, published an article titled 'Here’s why I think SpaceX is going public soon.' Elon Musk replied directly to Berger's post on X (formerly Twitter), stating simply: 'As usual, Eric is accurate.' This marked a reversal from Musk's previous stance that SpaceX would never go public.
SpaceX's achievements underpin the staggering $1.5 trillion valuation, from which the company aims to raise over $30 billion. In 2025, SpaceX launched 165 rockets—nearly one every two days—more than the rest of the world combined and accounting for 75% of all payloads sent to space. The company has overtaken traditional giants like Boeing, Lockheed, and Northrop Grumman, operating a satellite constellation almost 10 times larger than any competitor and serving as the sole provider for NASA astronaut missions to space.
Central to this dominance is the Starship rocket, designed to carry 100 to 150 metric tonnes to orbit—four to six times the capacity of the Space Shuttle's 25 tonnes. Starship promises launch costs of $100–$150 per kilogram, 10 times cheaper than SpaceX's Falcon rocket, 50 times cheaper than France's Ariane, and 200 times cheaper than NASA's SLS. Internal estimates suggest marginal launch costs could drop to $2 million, undercutting competitors by 99% even at $20 million per launch.
SpaceX's Starlink network amplifies its position, with over 9 million active customers in 155 markets as of December 2025, adding about 20,000 users daily. By October 2025, SpaceX had launched its 10,000th Starlink satellite, with plans for 70,000 more in two years. Recent acquisition of cellphone spectrum from Echostar positions Starlink to become a major global telecom provider. As commentator Joseph Orifice notes: 'Starlink is the largest satellite broadband network on the planet. Millions of homes in rural and underserved areas now rely on Starlink as their primary internet connection. Airlines use it for in-flight Wi-Fi. Shipping fleets use it in the middle of the ocean. Governments and militaries use secure versions for communications and surveillance. Starlink has transformed SpaceX from a launch company into a recurring-revenue infrastructure business.'
This infrastructure monopoly—owning nearly all space launch capabilities—echoes historical trillion-dollar valuations of rail, road, and port networks. While some analysts deem the $1.5 trillion figure ambitious, adding the 'Elon Musk premium' makes it appear reasonable, comparable only to Saudi Aramco's $1.7 trillion listing in 2019.
