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Topline
Most people assume the upcoming SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) of shares on the Nasdaq stock index — where shares will sell for $135 each — is a bet on rockets. Yet rockets may ultimately be the least important reason to invest. The SpaceX IPO could be a bet on a new economy in low Earth orbit.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) weather satellite Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U (GOES-U) lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, June 25, 2024. (Photo by MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
SpaceX now operates more than 10,000 active Starlink satellites, about two-thirds of all working satellites in orbit. It has plans to launch to 20,000. It has 10.3 million subscribers across 164 countries.
Starlink generated an operating profit of $1.19 billion in the first quarter of 2026, according to Reuters, but the company reported a total operating loss of $1.94 billion on $4.69 billion in revenue.
The company is formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corporation and will list under the symbol SPCX.
Beyond Rockets
The strongest immediate argument for SpaceX’s future is Starlink, a low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation that delivers high-speed, low-latency broadband. SpaceX launched its first batch of Starlink satellites in 2019 and reached 10,000 last month — two-thirds of all the working satellites in the sky. Amazon Leo, its competitor, has 300 satellites in orbit and plans to launch 3,200, according to Space.com. The company has pivoted from selling access to orbit to selling connectivity — and it intends to go much further.
Some think many investors misunderstand what they would be buying in a SpaceX IPO. “People think they’re investing in rockets,” said futurist and entrepreneur Brett Hurt, author of Love Conquers Fear: Humanity, AI, and the Age of Abundance for All, in an interview. “They’re investing in a communications network, the future of data centers and the future of energy.”
Starship And The Economics Of Orbit
If Starlink represents the first phase of SpaceX’s evolution, Starship could unlock the second. The fully reusable rocket is designed to carry more than 100 tonnes to low Earth orbit, potentially fundamentally altering what can be built in orbit.
“We believe Starship has the potential to define a new era in space,” said Mark Boggett, CEO of space investment firm Seraphim Space, in an email. Starship — currently in testing — could offer roughly ten times the launch capacity at a fraction of today’s costs. If Starship can be launched regularly, some analysts believe launch prices could eventually fall from around $5,000 per kilogram to the low hundreds of dollars per kilogram. “Payload mass and size, historically the primary constraints, could cease to be limiting factors,” said Boggett following Starship’s latest test flight. “This unlocks an entirely new phase of innovation, where deploying truly massive infrastructure in orbit becomes viable.”
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost and ispace’s Resilience lunar landers, streaks into orbit after lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 15, 2025. (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Big Structures In Space
The largest structures in orbit — such as the International Space Station and AST SpaceMobile’s cell tower arrays — are roughly the size of a football field. Starship could make structures 100 times the size feasible. What those giant structures might actually do remains an open question. Possibilities range from AI data centers and communications platforms to space-based solar power systems. If Starship succeeds in reducing launch costs dramatically, the debate may shift from how to reach orbit to what humanity chooses to build there.
Background
SpaceX’s ascent has long been associated with very ambitious goals such as reusable rockets, human missions to Mars and NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the moon. Increasingly, however, investors are viewing the company through a different lens. Rather than focusing solely on space exploration, many see SpaceX as a key player in the infrastructure that underpins the modern economy, spanning transportation, global connectivity, computing and energy. SpaceX’s greatest opportunity may lie not just in delivering payloads to orbit, but in creating the foundation for entirely new industries and markets.
