SpaceX raised about $75 billion when it went public, the largest IPO ever. By the end of its first day of trading it was worth about $2.1 trillion. The company had spent two decades as a private firm, landing rocket boosters on ships at sea and filling the sky with Starlink internet satellites. When it listed in June 2026, it launched most of the world's satellites, and Starlink sold service to millions of customers.

Reuse the Rocket

Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002. His bet was that launch costs would only fall if rockets could be reused instead of thrown away after each flight. Its first three Falcon 1 launches failed, and the fourth reached orbit in 2008. NASA contracts for cargo and then astronauts followed. Falcon 9 boosters began landing in 2015, and Starlink later turned SpaceX's launch business into a global internet company.

A Fixed Price of $135

SpaceX skipped the usual price range and set a fixed price of $135 a share. It priced on June 11, 2026, and began trading on the Nasdaq as SPCX the next day. The stock opened at $150 and closed near $161, up about 19 percent. Musk's stake made him the first person worth more than $1 trillion. SpaceX still trades on the Nasdaq as SPCX.

Cover: The Comet of 1811, T. Moon. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a comet streaking across the night sky (spaceflight).