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What SpaceX’s IPO Means For The Space Economy

16 0
04.04.2026

SpaceX plans a record IPO. How AI can help treat heart disease. NASA’s on its way back to the Moon. All that and more in this week’s edition of The Prototype. To get it in your inbox, sign up here.

SpaceX reportedly made a confidential IPO filing this week, setting the stage for what might be the biggest market debut of all time. Estimates suggest the company will aim to raise $75 billion at a valuation of $1.75 trillion, making it the largest IPO in history and catapulting the rocket company to one of the highest market caps on a stock exchange.

SpaceX will be joining other major space companies that have successfully gone public since 2021, including launch provider Rocket Lab ($38 billion market cap), imaging satellite firm Planet Labs ($12 billion market cap), and satellite communications business AST SpaceMobile ($35 billion market cap). The space economy now accounts for more than $613 billion, according to the Space Foundation, which estimates the market will hit $1 trillion by 2032.

One of Elon Musk’s next plans for SpaceX, which merged with his company xAI earlier this year, is to build data centers in space to support the artificial intelligence boom. And while that prospect poses significant technical hurdles, it’s an idea that may appear more urgent to investors this week after Iran claimed to have hit an Oracle data center in Dubai (a claim denied by UAE officials), and has said it plans to attack more. Earlier this week, space data center startup Starcloud raised a $170 million investment round that valued the company at $1.1 billion. I’d expect more........

© Forbes