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With the launch of SpaceX into the IPO frontier today, the space industry has its newest publicly traded juggernaut.SpaceX's initial public offering, or IPO, is going live for trading on the NASDAQ today (June 12), riding on what you could call the "Elon factor" — the high anticipation to grab stock in a company that once aimed for Mars, but now seems to be aiming at everything else, too.Last May, SpaceX filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission key documentation that signaled an initial public offering (IPO) of stock. Talk of SpaceX, which billionaire Elon Musk founded in 2002 to find a way to Mars, going public had been rampant since late 2025, when the first hints arose of its possibility.And this week, the long-anticipated IPO hit the streets, becoming the largest IPO in history, a $1.77 trillion dollar valuation. SpaceX anticipates a $75 billion initial offering, with shares perhaps valued at $135 each, a dollar number that SpaceX can modify on its own.SpaceX transitioning to a publicly traded company is a big deal, not only cash wise but may well power the future and potency of commercial space overall.Market appetite
