SpaceX IPO Ripples Across Public Space Stocks

SpaceX has confidentially filed to go public and is reportedly seeking a valuation of up to $2 trillion after its merger with Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, earlier this year. The company is also said to be aiming to raise as much as $75 billion in the offering, which would make it one of the largest IPO raises on record and place SpaceX among the most valuable companies globally.

The merger between SpaceX and xAI valued the combined entity at about $1.25 trillion, according to an internal document (SpaceX ≈ $1.0 trillion; xAI ≈ $250 billion). The last time investors bought SpaceX shares, at the end of 2025, the company was valued at $800 billion. The anticipated IPO is seen as a major windfall for existing investors, including Elon Musk.

Alphabet (GOOGL), the parent company of Google, invested $900 million in SpaceX in 2015, receiving a stake of about 7%. In its first-quarter 2025 report, Alphabet (GOOGL) disclosed an $8 billion unrealized gain that was widely believed to be linked to SpaceX's rising valuation. Alphabet holds stakes in more than 20 publicly traded companies as well as numerous start-ups.

If Alphabet still owns roughly 7% of SpaceX and the space company reaches a $2 trillion valuation, that stake would be worth about $140 billion. This amount would exceed Alphabet's net income last year and could be significant as the company plans to spend roughly $175 billion on capital expenditures in 2026 to support its AI initiatives.

Nvidia (NVDA), though not an investor in SpaceX, is positioned to benefit as a major supplier. SpaceX is described as a significant Nvidia (NVDA) customer, and Nvidia has become the world's most valuable company due to its dominance in the AI GPU market. Elon Musk has publicly praised Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang and has said that both SpaceX and Tesla (TSLA) will continue to purchase Nvidia chips at scale.

SpaceX's acquisition of xAI, which owns the social media site X and the chatbot Grok, is expected to increase demand for Nvidia chips. Musk aims for xAI to compete with AI leaders such as OpenAI and Anthropic, a goal that requires substantial GPU investment. A notable portion of the up to $75 billion SpaceX may raise could be directed toward Nvidia hardware, including for potential future space-based data centers that Musk has discussed.

AST SpaceMobile is developing a cellular broadband network that connects directly to standard, unmodified smartphones using satellites acting as space-based cell towers. The company partners with mobile network operators such as AT&T (T), Verizon Communications (VZ), and Vodafone (VOD.L), sharing revenue on space-based add-on plans, and it also earns income from government tactical communications contracts.

AST SpaceMobile is in the early commercialization stage and is deploying its BlueBird satellites. It has launched six satellites so far, with a seventh scheduled for launch in April. The company targets launching between 45 and 60 satellites by 2026 to deliver continuous commercial service in initial markets including the United States, Japan, and Europe. In February, AST raised $3.9 billion through convertible senior notes and stock offerings and secured a $30 million prime contract from the U.S. Space Development Agency for the HALO Europa direct-to-device tactical communications program.

Planet Labs operates more than 200 Earth-imaging satellites, described as the world’s largest such fleet. The company provides high-resolution, daily imagery to customers in government defense and intelligence, agriculture for crop monitoring, and disaster response. Its imaging archive is being enhanced with analytics and artificial intelligence tools.

Planet Labs is further along in commercialization than AST SpaceMobile, generating $308 million in revenue last year compared with AST’s $71 million, and is described as closer to profitability. In March, Planet Labs announced a collaboration with Nvidia to create a GPU-native AI engine, aiming to transition from an imagery provider to a real-time planetary intelligence platform. Both AST SpaceMobile and Planet Labs are seen as beneficiaries of growing investment and interest in the broader space economy, which McKinsey estimates could reach $1.8 trillion by 2035.