What's behind the SpaceX IPO hype?

Rocket firm’s initial public offering could be the largest ever, at least partially driven by a plan to launch AI data centers into orbit

- By Laurence Darmiento

ELON MUSK'S privately held company SpaceX is eyeing what could be the largest initial public offering ever.

(ERIC GAY Associated Press)

SpaceX has transformed the aerospace industry with its reusable rockets — radically lowering the cost of lifting satellites into space while bringing internet service to all corners of the globe with its Starlink network.

Now, Elon Musk’s privately held company is eyeing what could be the largest initial public offering ever as it faces multiple challenges — including landing Americans on the moon, satisfying the billionaire’s ambitious if quixotic desires to colonize Mars and potentially putting AI data centers into orbit.

The company is seeking to raise more than $30 billion with an IPO perhaps late next year that would value the company at $1.5 trillion, according to reports.

The funding could speed development of its deep-space Starship spacecraft, key to its moon and Mars missions, as it explores the orbiting data center concept — all of which has drawn skepticism, given their need for cutting-edge technological advances.

Here’s what to know about Musk’s plans for the company, which moved to Texas last year but retains large operations at its Hawthorne complex. SpaceX did not return emails seeking comment.

SpaceX has been private since it was founded in 2002. Why is it going public now?

Plain and simple, the company has a voracious appetite for capital. Musk has said on his social media network X that the company’s revenue will top $15 billion this year, but when your goals are to land astronauts on the moon, colonize Mars and assist development of the most sophisticated AI, there is never enough money.

How would the IPO compare to other big public offerings?