Elon Musk’s SpaceX is considering a flotation valuing the rocket company at $1.5tn (£1.1tn) that will reportedly be timed for early summer to coincide with a planetary alignment and the multibillionaire’s birthday.
The world’s richest person is targeting a symbolic date of mid-June for the initial public offering, according to the Financial Times. This would be around the same time as Jupiter and Venus appear in close proximity to each other and shortly before Musk turns 55 on 28 June.
The FT also reported that SpaceX is seeking to raise $50bn – valuing it at $1.5tn – compared with previous reports that it was looking for $25bn at an $800bn valuation. Last week, it was reported that the rocket company was considering Bank of America, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for leading roles in the share sale.
Musk, whose $680bn fortune would be turbo-boosted by a SpaceX flotation, said last year the company’s annual revenue would be $15.5bn, with $1.1bn of that coming from contracts with Nasa. The billionaire owns about 42% of SpaceX, as well as nearly 17% of the electric carmaker Tesla, where he is chief executive. He also owns more than three-quarters of the social media platform X.
SpaceX generates revenues from deploying reusable rockets for missions such as launching satellites and restocking the International Space Station. It also operates the Starlink satellite high-speed internet service.
If the flotation goes ahead it would involve a bigger initial fundraising than the IPO of the oil company Saudi Aramco, which raised $29bn in 2019, although for a larger total valuation of $1.7tn.
The chief financial officer of SpaceX, Bret Johnsen, has held talks and video conference calls with existing private investors since December to explore a mid-2026 IPO, the FT added.
Musk has reportedly been swayed by the idea of a SpaceX float because of its growing valuation and the success of Starlink.
Global financial markets are anticipating a year of significant US listings, with the artificial intelligence companies Anthropic and OpenAI also laying early groundwork for potential IPOs.
A rebound in the US equity capital market activity began in 2025 after three years of limited activity, partly as the result of volatility and geopolitical tensions. Space technology is a tightly held sector but is sought after by investors keen for exposure in light of rapid development prospects, analysts have said.
Neil Wilson, an analyst at Saxo Capital Markets, said the mooted $1.5tn price tag was a “monster premium”.
He added: “A valuation that big reflects not just a tech and AI premium but Elon Musk’s stardust and a frothy market, plus a heck of a lot of media narrative around this. It is to some degree a kind of bet on the future space economy.”
SpaceX has been approached for comment.
