Elon Musk’s SpaceX has finally pulled back the curtain. The rocket maker and satellite operator filed its long-awaited S-1 registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 20, 2026. The document lays out numbers that investors have long speculated about. Revenue hit $18.7 billion in 2025. Losses reached nearly $5 billion. And capital spending exploded to more than $20 billion as the company poured resources into artificial intelligence infrastructure.
But one business stands apart. Starlink, the satellite broadband service, generated $11.4 billion in revenue last year. That accounted for 61 percent of total sales. It was the only segment to deliver meaningful operating profit, at $4.4 billion. The launch business lost $657 million. The AI division posted a $6.4 billion deficit. Numbers don’t lie.
SpaceX plans to list Class A common shares on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX. A Reuters report from June 3 indicates the company aims to price at $135 per share, selling 555.6 million shares to raise $75 billion in what would be the largest IPO in history. The implied valuation sits near $1.75 trillion. Roadshow activity kicks off immediately. Trading could begin as soon as June 12. Reuters first detailed the pricing move.
The filing arrives after SpaceX merged with Musk’s xAI startup earlier in 2026. That combination brought heavy AI spending into the consolidated results. Capital expenditures directed toward AI reached roughly 60 percent of the total in 2025, or about $12.7 billion. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, AI accounted for $7.7 billion of $10.1 billion in total capex. The company disclosed agreements to supply compute power to Anthropic at $1.25 billion per month through 2029. It also struck a complex deal with Cursor that includes an option valued around $60 billion.
Starlink’s growth tells its own story. The service added subscribers rapidly. The count climbed from 4.4 million at the end of 2024 to 8.9 million by year-end 2025 and 10.3 million in the first quarter of 2026. Average revenue per user slipped from $99 monthly in 2023 to $81 in 2025 and $66 in early 2026. Subscribers keep signing up. Yet the price per connection trends lower. That dynamic echoes patterns seen in other scaling network businesses. Still, Starlink delivered adjusted EBITDA of $7.2 billion in 2025. The connectivity segment carried the company’s profitability.
Launch operations remain central to the brand. SpaceX completed 170 launches in 2025, up from 138 the prior year. It lofted more than 2,200 metric tons to orbit. Government contracts with NASA and the Defense Department provide steady revenue. Yet the segment operated at a loss. Development costs for Starship weighed heavily. The company reported spending $3 billion on Starship in 2025 and another $930 million in the first quarter of 2026, according to SpaceNews.
Musk retains overwhelming control. He holds stakes that deliver more than 85 percent of the voting power through a combination of Class A and high-vote Class B shares. His equity vests in part upon achieving a human colony on Mars. The structure underscores the long-term bet investors must accept. Musk also serves as chief executive, chief technology officer, and chairman. The filing explicitly notes the company qualifies as a controlled entity, exempting it from certain governance requirements.
Risks fill 36 pages of the prospectus. Regulatory approval for launches and spectrum access tops the list. Delays from the Federal Aviation Administration or Federal Communications Commission could slow satellite deployment and revenue growth. Technical failures, orbital debris, supply chain snarls, and competition from other satellite operators appear repeatedly. The AI push brings its own uncertainties. Rapid technology change, power demands, and competition from firms such as OpenAI could erode advantages. Legal disputes tied to the xAI merger, including a battle with OpenAI, could cost $530 million.
Yet the company paints an expansive vision. It estimates a total addressable market of $28.5 trillion across broadband, mobile connectivity, AI infrastructure, advertising, and enterprise applications. Plans call for orbital data centers, Starship-enabled lunar and Martian transport, and manufacturing of AI chips. A collaboration with Tesla on the Terafab project aims to advance semiconductor production at scale. Intel joined that effort in April 2026. The filing mentions these initiatives as pathways to monetize massive compute investments.
Financial trends show both promise and pressure. Consolidated revenue rose 33 percent in 2025 from $14 billion in 2024. First-quarter 2026 revenue reached $4.7 billion, up 15 percent year-over-year. Operating losses widened. Adjusted EBITDA stayed positive at $6.6 billion for 2025 and $1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2026. Cash and equivalents stood at $15.9 billion at the end of March. The company raised substantial capital through financing activities even as investing outflows ballooned.
Wall Street has greeted the disclosure with a mix of awe and caution. The proposed valuation implies a multiple well above traditional aerospace benchmarks. Some analysts point to Starlink’s subscription-like cash flows as the anchor. Others question how quickly the AI and deep-space ambitions can translate into returns. CNBC’s coverage highlighted that Starlink now represents the profit engine while the combined entity chases broader AI opportunities. CNBC tracked the filing’s release in real time.
The New York Times examined the shift from profitability in 2024 to deep losses in 2025 driven by accelerated spending. Revenue growth continued. Capital intensity increased dramatically. The New York Times noted the contrast. TechCrunch focused on the AI bets, reporting that 60 percent of 2025 capital spending went to that division even as it generated no profit. TechCrunch called the document a window into Musk’s dual focus on space and intelligence.
Fortune reviewed the $28.5 trillion market opportunity cited in the filing and the explicit goal of making life multiplanetary while seeking to understand the true nature of the universe. The publication observed that such language reflects the founder’s long-stated motivations. Fortune placed the IPO in that broader context.
Employees stand to benefit enormously. Thousands could become millionaires upon listing. Hundreds may cross nine-figure net worth. The filing reveals roughly 22,000 full-time staff and no union representation. Many hold equity that vests over time. The IPO could create one of the largest single-day wealth events in technology history.
So the stage is set. SpaceX enters public markets at a scale few companies have attempted. Its core launch franchise dominates global commercial activity. Starlink has scaled into a fast-growing connectivity powerhouse. The AI investments represent a massive wager that orbital compute and related technologies will deliver outsized returns. Musk’s voting control ensures his vision prevails. Public shareholders will gain exposure to both the cash-generating businesses and the speculative frontier efforts.
Success hinges on execution across multiple fronts. Starship must achieve rapid reusability and high flight rates. Spectrum and regulatory approvals must materialize. AI infrastructure must find paying customers beyond the related-party deals already signed. Competition will intensify. Capital demands will remain high. The filing makes those challenges plain even as it trumpets the opportunities.
Investors now face a choice. They can buy into a proven space transportation and satellite operator with strong cash generation in one segment. Or they can back a bet that the same organization can pioneer profitable orbital AI, deep-space commerce, and human expansion beyond Earth. The S-1 provides the data. The market will soon deliver its verdict.
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