SpaceX lists on Nasdaq in record $75bn IPO
SpaceX's record Nasdaq debut turns a private space champion into a public test of investor faith in Musk's space, broadband and AI platform.
In 30 seconds
- The IPO pricing terms stated that SpaceX sold 555.6 million shares at $135, raising about $75bn.
- Market reports said SpaceX traded on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on 12 June 2026.
- Market reports said first trades valued SpaceX near or above $2tn, depending on the opening price used.
- The European Commission says IRIS2 will use 290 satellites for secure and broadband connectivity services.
Key fact
555.6 million The IPO pricing terms stated that SpaceX sold shares at $135, raising about $75bn.
Al Jazeera - SpaceX IPO debuts in US markets, Musk becomes world's first trillionaire ↗
SpaceX (US aerospace and satellite company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk) operates Falcon rockets, Starlink and other space infrastructure businesses. Elon Musk (South African-born US entrepreneur and SpaceX chief executive) also controls Tesla and X-related businesses. Nasdaq (US technology-heavy stock exchange in New York) hosted the SpaceX listing under the ticker SPCX. Starlink (SpaceX's low-Earth-orbit satellite broadband network) is the group's main consumer-facing connectivity product. xAI (Musk artificial-intelligence company founded in 2023) was folded into the wider Musk corporate orbit before the IPO, according to market reports. X (social-media platform formerly known as Twitter) is relevant because some reports describe it as part of the broader Musk-controlled technology stack. IRIS2 (EU secure satellite-connectivity programme created by Regulation (EU) 2023/588) is Europe's planned sovereign counterpart for government, business and citizen connectivity. The European Commission's Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (EU executive department for space policy) manages the EU policy framework around IRIS2 and the EU Space Act.
Background
The IPO pricing terms stated that SpaceX raised about $75bn, making the deal larger than Saudi Aramco's 2019 listing and Alibaba's 2014 New York IPO, both widely used benchmarks for mega-listings. Musk's Tesla listed in June 2010 at a far smaller scale, giving public investors an earlier template for buying into Musk-led industrial risk. The space-policy precedent is also European: the EU created Galileo for navigation autonomy, Copernicus for Earth observation and, through Regulation (EU) 2023/588, IRIS2 for secure satellite connectivity during 2023-2027.
The wider picture
SpaceX now sits inside a larger contest over who controls space-based communications, broadband resilience and future AI infrastructure. The geopolitical issue is dependence: governments have learned from Ukraine and other crises that satellite connectivity can become a strategic asset. The EU's IRIS2 and Space Act agenda reflects the same concern from a European regulatory and sovereignty perspective.
Why now
The story is timely because SpaceX began public trading on 12 June 2026 after pricing the offering at $135 per share. That converted a long-private strategic company into a public-market benchmark overnight.
What to watch
Watch SpaceX's closing price after the first trading week, any Nasdaq index-inclusion signals, the first quarterly results as a listed company and progress on EU Space Act negotiations. For Europe, IRIS2 procurement and deployment milestones will show whether public programmes can keep pace with private US scale.
What to do
Belgian readers should treat the IPO mainly as an exposure and policy story. Investors should check whether funds they own can add SpaceX automatically. Businesses using or considering Starlink should expect more scrutiny of pricing, service quality and regulation. EU-focused readers should watch whether Brussels accelerates space-resilience rules or IRIS2 implementation.
How we got here
- 2002
Elon Musk founded SpaceX as a private aerospace company.
- 2010-06
Tesla listed publicly, creating the earlier Musk-led public-market template.
- 2023-03-15
Regulation (EU) 2023/588 established the EU Secure Connectivity Programme for 2023-2027.
- 2025-06-25
The European Commission launched the EU Space Act proposal.
- 2026-04-17
Researchers submitted a comparative study of Starlink and IRIS2 architectures to arXiv.
EvidenceWell established · 1 primary source + 2 official documents + 3 independent reporting sources · Academic sources: 1 · Background sources: 1Explore evidence →Hide evidence ↑
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How this story developed
2 reports on this subject — earliest first. You are reading the highlighted entry.
- SpaceX lists on Nasdaq in record $75bn IPO· You are here
- SpaceX prices record IPO at $135 a share
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This story was assembled from verified evidence, with its sources and reasoning recorded as it was written.