SpaceX could soon file for an IPO. Why EchoStar and other space stocks are rising.

By William Gavin

Elon Musk's company could raise more than $75 billion, according to The Information. That would easily make for one of the biggest IPOs in history.

SpaceX has become the most recognizable face in the space sector. It's initial public offering could bring a wave of interest to the rest of the industry, experts say.

Space stocks are rising on Wednesday as enthusiasm builds for the potentially imminent filing of SpaceX's initial public offering.

The rocket maker is aiming to file its IPO prospectus with U.S. regulators later this week or next week, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the plans. Advisors involved in the process said SpaceX could try to raise more than $75 billion in the IPO, up from the $50 billion it was previously said to be targeting, according to the report.

That would make SpaceX's IPO one of the largest in history by cash raised, beating out Saudi Aramco's $29.4 billion worth of IPO proceeds from 2019. SpaceX, currently estimated to be worth $1.25 trillion, could seek a valuation of $1.75 trillion. Musk's Tesla (TSLA) currently has a market cap north of $1.4 trillion.

SpaceX generated $16 billion of revenue and $7.5 billion of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization last year, largely thanks to its Starlink business, according to PitchBook. It acquired Musk's xAI artificial-intelligence firm last month, which PitchBook estimated is worth about $250 billion.

SpaceX is expected to be aiming for a June public listing, according to multiple reports and investors. Representatives for xAI and SpaceX did not immediately return requests for comment on SpaceX's IPO plans.

See: SpaceX's stock could trade like Tesla 'on steroids' after its IPO, analyst says

Space-sector stocks, including Rocket Lab (RKLB), Planet Labs (PL) and Redwire (RDW), traded higher after the market opened on Wednesday, following The Information's report. Tesla stock is up 3%, while shares of SpaceX investor Alphabet (GOOGL) are up by more than 1%.

EchoStar's stock (SATS), which has increasingly been viewed as a way to get exposure to SpaceX's IPO, were up about 8% in morning action on Wednesday. The company last fall agreed to sell about $20 billion worth of spectrum to SpaceX in return for up to $11 billon worth of SpaceX's Class A common stock. That deal is set to close in late 2027.

"I don't think any amount of valuation is probably crazy there," EchoStar CEO Charles Ergen said of SpaceX on his company's earnings call earlier this month. He added that EchoStar hadn't been informed of SpaceX's plans but that he was "anxious to see if they do, in fact, do an IPO."

Beyond providing SpaceX with the capital it needs to fund its massive plans for orbital data centers, a city on the moon and an ambitious chip-making collaboration with Tesla, an IPO is expected to bring attention to the rest of the space industry. The venture-capital firm Space Capital has compared SpaceX's plans with the public debut of Netscape in 1995, which kicked off the dot-com boom.

Varda Space Industries co-founder Delian Asparouhov told TBPN on Tuesday that SpaceX's IPO could bring a "huge amount of attention" to the space industry. It could also open up opportunities for investment in "next application" areas, such as lunar ice mining, he added.

"I like to think of space in some ways like a highway. When you first only had a handful of cars there, everybody had to kind of bring their own gas tank," Asparouhov said. "Once you get thousands of cars up there, you can start to invest into a gas station."

See: 'Do you believe in Elon?': Musk tests Tesla investors' faith with an expensive chip-making plan

NASA on Tuesday announced plans to invest roughly $20 billion over the next seven years to establish a base on the moon. It also revealed plans to launch nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars and to one of Saturn's moons by the end of 2028.

Intuitive Machines (LUNR) shares were up almost 10% in intraday action on Wednesday, partially reflecting excitement around a new $180 million contract with NASA to deliver seven payloads to the moon's south pole region. Satellogic's stock (SATL) jumped 12% as the company notched a new subcontract agreement supporting the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

-William Gavin

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-25-26 0953ET