SpaceX is set to debut on Nasdaq on 12 June 2026 under the ticker SPCX \u2014 the largest IPO in financial history. Here is what the company does, why markets are paying close attention, and how investors can gain exposure to the space economy.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n For six decades, reaching orbit meant building a rocket, firing it once, and watching a $60 million machine sink into the ocean. The economics were brutal, access was limited to governments, and the pace of progress was slow.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n SpaceX changed that.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Founded by Elon Musk in 2002, SpaceX set out to make space travel reusable, affordable and commercially\u00a0viable. Today, it controls approximately 85% of global orbital launches,\u00a0operates\u00a0the world’s largest satellite internet network, and is preparing to list on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange on 12 June 2026 under the ticker SPCX.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n At a planned $135 per share and a\u00a0$1.75 trillion\u00a0valuation, it will be the largest IPO in financial history, raising\u00a0$75 billion\u00a0from investors led by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America,\u00a0Citigroup\u00a0and JPMorgan Chase. That figure is more than double Saudi Aramco’s 2019 global record of\u00a0$29.4 billion, and\u00a0nearly five\u00a0times the capital raised by Meta Platforms in its 2012 IPO.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n This article looks at the business behind the headline, the three revenue segments driving its valuation, and the ways investors can gain access to the space economy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n Why SpaceX Is Different: The Reusability Breakthrough<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The central innovation at SpaceX is not the rocket itself. It is the ability to land it and fly it again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Before SpaceX, every orbital rocket was discarded after\u00a0a single use.\u00a0The Falcon\u00a09 changed that. According to SpaceX’s own S-1 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, one Falcon 9 first-stage booster has been successfully\u00a0reflown\u00a0up to 34 times. The cost to reach low Earth orbit has fallen by approximately 95% compared to the Space Shuttle era, from over $54,000 per kilogram to under $3,000.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The practical result is a structural advantage that no competitor has yet matched. In 2025, SpaceX completed 165 orbital launches, a new annual world record achieved for the sixth consecutive year. The company delivered 11 of 12 National Security Space Launch missions for the US government,\u00a0operated\u00a0all five crewed and cargo missions to the International Space Station on behalf of NASA, and achieved a 99%+ mission success rate across all Falcon rocket flights. In terms of output, SpaceX launched\u00a0nearly twice\u00a0as many orbital missions as China did in the same year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n That operational\u00a0track record\u00a0is the foundation on which SpaceX’s three business segments are built.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Three Businesses Inside SpaceX<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n SpaceX’s S-1 filing\u00a0discloses\u00a0three distinct revenue streams. Each is\u00a0material. Together, they explain why the company is valued far above comparable aerospace businesses.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Launch services generated\u00a0$4.1 billion\u00a0in revenue in 2025. Falcon 9 performs over 90% of global commercial orbital launches, a market position that took two decades to build. Government contracts with NASA, the US Space\u00a0Force\u00a0and the intelligence community provide stable, long-term revenue that underpins the entire business.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The launch segment deliberately\u00a0operates\u00a0at a loss, posting a $657 million operating deficit in 2025. The reason is Starship. SpaceX invested approximately\u00a0$3 billion\u00a0in Starship research and development during the year, using Falcon 9’s profitability to fund its successor. Starship is a fully reusable super-heavy-lift vehicle designed to carry over 100\u00a0tonnes\u00a0to\u00a0orbit per flight. The S-1\u00a0states\u00a0it is engineered to reduce the cost of reaching orbit by 99% or more\u00a0relative\u00a0to the historical average. If it delivers, it\u00a0would\u00a0do for heavy lift what Falcon 9 did for medium lift: collapse the price floor and widen SpaceX’s competitive advantage further.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Starlink is the largest and most commercially significant business inside SpaceX.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n In 2019, it had zero subscribers and zero revenue.\u00a0By Q1 2026, it had grown to 10.3 million paying subscribers across 164 countries, with a constellation of approximately 9,600 satellites in low Earth orbit representing around 65% of all active satellites globally.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The financial profile is distinctive. In 2025, Starlink generated\u00a0$11.4 billion\u00a0in revenue, growing at 49.8% year on year, with a segment adjusted EBITDA margin of 63%. For context, global mobile network operators typically achieve EBITDA margins of 30% to 40%. Traditional satellite operators such as\u00a0Viasat\u00a0and Eutelsat\u00a0operate\u00a0at around 20%. Starlink’s margin profile is in a different category.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Starlink is also the only consistently profitable segment within SpaceX on a GAAP basis, generating\u00a0$4.4 billion\u00a0in operating profit in 2025. That cash is what funds everything else, including rocket development, Starship, and\u00a0xAI\u00a0infrastructure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Starlink is not solely a consumer broadband product. A $537 million Department of Defense contract runs through 2027. United Airlines\u00a0operates\u00a0inflight connectivity through Starlink. Government and\u00a0defence\u00a0customers, alongside aviation and maritime operators, represent the fastest-growing and highest-margin\u00a0portion\u00a0of the business.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n In May 2026, SpaceX raised Starlink plan prices for the first time, a move that signals the service has shifted from customer acquisition into\u00a0monetisation. Analysts at Quilty Space project Starlink revenue will reach approximately\u00a0$20 billion\u00a0in 2026, representing around 79% of SpaceX’s projected total revenue for the year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n In February 2026, SpaceX completed the acquisition of\u00a0xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company. The AI segment contributed\u00a0$3.2 billion\u00a0in 2025 revenue and\u00a0represents\u00a0SpaceX’s long-term bet on orbital AI infrastructure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n SpaceX’s S-1 describes a vision for data\u00a0centres\u00a0operating\u00a0in space: server farms powered by solar energy, cooled by the vacuum of space, and potentially offering lower latency for AI workloads than terrestrial alternatives.\u00a0The company expects to begin deploying orbital AI compute satellites as early as 2028.\u00a0The concept\u00a0remains\u00a0early-stage, but its explicit inclusion in the prospectus signals that SpaceX views it as a material future revenue stream.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The AI segment posted an operating loss of\u00a0$6.35 billion\u00a0in 2025, making it the largest drag on SpaceX’s\u00a0consolidated\u00a0financials. The\u00a0xAI\u00a0business burned a further\u00a0$2.5 billion\u00a0in Q1 2026 alone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Valuation Question<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n In its S-1 filing, SpaceX described its total addressable market as\u00a0$28.5 trillion:\u00a0$370 billion\u00a0in space,\u00a0$1.6 trillion\u00a0in connectivity, and\u00a0$26.5 trillion\u00a0in AI. The document describes this as “the largest actionable total addressable market in human history.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n At the IPO price of $135 per share, SpaceX carries a Price-to-Sales ratio of approximately 94 times its 2025 revenue. That multiple does not reflect the company as it exists today. It reflects market expectations that all three segments execute on their stated roadmaps: Starlink scaling to tens of millions of subscribers, Starship achieving commercial operations, and orbital AI compute generating meaningful revenue.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n SpaceX posted a\u00a0consolidated\u00a0GAAP net loss of\u00a0$4.94 billion\u00a0in 2025, with an accumulated deficit of\u00a0$41.3 billion. It has never reported a full-year GAAP profit following the\u00a0xAI\u00a0merger, though it generated $791 million in net income in 2024 before the acquisition.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n At the\u00a0$1.75 trillion\u00a0valuation, SpaceX would rank as the seventh-largest US company by market\u00a0capitalisation, valued higher than every major US company except the six largest.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Bull Case<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Those\u00a0constructive on\u00a0SPCX point to several structural advantages that are difficult to replicate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Falcon 9 holds a near-monopoly on commercial orbital launch, performing over 90% of global missions at a 99%+ success rate. Starlink subscriber growth has compounded at 97% annually since 2023, with the service now crossing\u00a012 million customers\u00a0globally. The US government paid SpaceX\u00a0$5.9 billion\u00a0in 2025 across NASA, the Department of\u00a0Defense\u00a0and the intelligence community. These are multi-year contracts tied to national security infrastructure, not discretionary spending. Every dollar of the\u00a0$75 billion\u00a0raised in this IPO goes directly to SpaceX for operations and development. No insiders are selling into the offering. And if Starship\u00a0delivers on\u00a0its engineering specifications, it opens entirely new markets that do not yet\u00a0exist:\u00a0mass cargo deployment, orbital AI\u00a0infrastructure\u00a0and eventually interplanetary transport.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n There is also a structural tailwind specific to this IPO. When SPCX becomes eligible for inclusion in major US equity indices, including the Nasdaq 100 and Russell benchmarks, index-tracking funds that passively mirror those benchmarks will be\u00a0required\u00a0to purchase SPCX shares to\u00a0maintain\u00a0accurate\u00a0replication. Analysts have estimated this forced buying at between\u00a0$22 billion\u00a0and\u00a0$27 billion. A Nasdaq rule revision effective May 2026 means SPCX will automatically enter the Nasdaq 100 on its 15th trading day, around 6 July 2026.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Bear Case<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Those cautious on SPCX at the current valuation raise equally substantive points.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n SpaceX posted a\u00a0$4.94 billion\u00a0net loss in 2025. Q1 2026 alone produced a\u00a0$4.3 billion\u00a0loss, an acceleration rather than an improvement. The accumulated deficit stands at\u00a0$41.3 billion. At 94 times 2025 revenue, the valuation prices in flawless execution across all three business lines for years. Elon Musk\u00a0retains\u00a0approximately 82% of voting power after the offering through a\u00a0dual-class\u00a0share structure, meaning public shareholders have limited ability to influence board decisions, executive\u00a0compensation\u00a0or strategic direction. The\u00a0xAI\u00a0segment lost\u00a0$6.35 billion\u00a0in 2025 and continues to burn significant capital. When the lockup period expires in December 2026, early employees, venture\u00a0investors\u00a0and pre-IPO shareholders all become sellers simultaneously, a known event on a known timeline that institutional traders have been positioning around for months.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Morningstar has described the valuation as close to twice\u00a0fair\u00a0value based on current financials. University of Florida IPO researcher Prof. Jay Ritter, who has studied hundreds of listings, notes that a great company is not the same thing as a great stock, and that the price at listing is no longer low.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n What History Says About IPO Day One<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Based on data covering hundreds of IPO listings since 2020, the average first-day price gain is approximately 30%. However, that figure is\u00a0an average\u00a0across a wide range of outcomes. High-profile, heavily\u00a0anticipated\u00a0IPOs, where significant investor demand has already been expressed through bookbuilding, tend to\u00a0exhibit\u00a0more moderate first-day moves than lesser-known listings, as much of the price discovery has already occurred before the opening bell.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n A longer-term pattern is equally worth noting. Research shows that returns on IPO stocks over 12 to\u00a036 months\u00a0frequently\u00a0underperform the broader market after the\u00a0initial\u00a0listing period. The pattern is not universal, but it is consistent enough to be material for investors with longer time horizons. The December 2026 lockup expiry is already circled on institutional calendars.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Two things can be simultaneously true: SPCX may see significant first-day activity, and long-term returns may be less predictable. Your investment time horizon is the most relevant factor in\u00a0determining\u00a0which of those observations matters more to you.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Ways to Gain Exposure to the Space Economy<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n For investors interested in the SpaceX IPO or the broader space economy, several instruments are available through Phillip Nova.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n SPCX \u2014 SpaceX\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The most direct route. SpaceX lists on Nasdaq on 12 June 2026 under the ticker SPCX at $135 per share. Phillip Nova clients can trade SPCX from the first day of trading.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Space Economy ETFs<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n For investors seeking diversified exposure to the space sector, two actively managed ETFs are available on Phillip Nova today.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n ETF<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n Full Name<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n SpaceX Exposure<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n Expense Ratio<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n ARKX<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n Indirect via space ecosystem holdings<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n 0.75%<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n NASA<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n Tema Space Innovators ETF<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n 6.70% via SPV as of early June 2026; direct post-IPO<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n 0.87%<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.phillipnova.com.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-08-at-6.30.45-PM.png\")
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