SpaceX is preparing to go public next year and has launched a secondary stock offering that will value the company at $800 billion, according to a letter to shareholders sent by the company’s chief financial officer, Bret Johnsen, and seen by Reuters.
The Elon Musk-led company’s decision to go public, in what could become one of the world’s largest IPOs, was driven largely by the rapid expansion of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet business, including plans for direct-to-mobile service and progress on its Starship rocket program for missions to the Moon and Mars.
In the letter dated Dec. 12, Johnsen said SpaceX approved a deal in which new and existing investors, along with the company, would purchase up to $2.56 billion in stock from eligible shareholders at a price of $421 per share.
“We are preparing the company for a possible IPO in 2026. There are still very uncertain questions about whether this will actually happen, when and at what valuation, but we believe that if we execute the plan brilliantly and the markets cooperate, a public offering could raise a significant amount of capital,” Johnsen said.
SpaceX intends to use the capital to increase the frequency of Starship flights, deploy artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in space, build the Alpha Moon Base and send manned and unmanned missions to Mars, Johnsen said.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bloomberg News and The New York Times reported the stock sale Friday.
Musk hinted at a possible SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) in a post on social media platform X earlier this week.
Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing a source familiar with the matter, that the rocket and satellite company aims to raise more than $25 billion in an IPO that could happen as soon as June.
Investors welcomed the news that SpaceX was considering a possible IPO that would fund Musk’s Mars ambitions and value the rocket and satellite company at more than $1 trillion.
According to Crunchbase data, SpaceX ranks as the second most valuable private startup in the world, behind OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT.
Negotiations on a proposed IPO are taking place against a backdrop of a resurgence of the IPO market in 2025, after three years of stagnation.
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