The S-1 Is Out

SpaceX filed its public S-1 prospectus with the SEC on Wednesday, May 20, after markets closed. According to TechCrunch, SpaceX posted $18 billion in revenue in 2025 and lost $4.9 billion that same year. The company has lost more than $37 billion since Elon Musk founded it in 2002.

Starlink Carries the Whole Company

SpaceX's satellite internet division, Starlink, generated roughly $11 billion in 2025 — more than half of total company revenue, per TechCrunch. According to CNBC, SpaceX now operates a constellation of approximately 10,000 satellites and has become NASA's biggest launch partner since the agency ended the Space Shuttle program in 2011. Crypto Briefing reported Starlink currently serves 8 million customers worldwide.

Starlink is the only division posting clear growth. Everything else remains expensive.

xAI's Burden on SpaceX

SpaceX directed approximately 60% of its 2025 capital spending — around $20 billion — into its AI division, which houses the chatbot Grok after Musk merged xAI into SpaceX, according to TechCrunch. That division lost billions and grew revenue by only 22% last year. For context, TechCrunch notes that's "far below the reported revenue growth rates at frontier AI labs."

Investors buying into the SpaceX IPO would be acquiring a struggling AI company that Musk folded in, funded with capital from SpaceX's balance sheet.

CNBC noted that SpaceX was valued at $1.25 trillion in February after the xAI merger. The current IPO is reportedly targeting a valuation between $1.75 trillion and $2 trillion, per Crypto Briefing. Public investors are being asked to pay significantly more than that February merger price — for a company that lost nearly $5 billion last year.

Musk Owns the Company. Period.

The S-1 confirms that this is Elon Musk's company, legally and practically.

According to TechCrunch, Musk owns 93.6% of SpaceX's Class B stock. Class B shares carry 10 votes per share. Public investors will be buying Class A shares with standard voting rights — meaning they will have almost no meaningful say in how this company is run.

Buyers of SPCX on Nasdaq would hold stock with minimal voting power.

CNBC confirmed Goldman Sachs is the lead left underwriter on the deal, followed by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase. The roadshow is expected to kick off June 8, per CNBC.

Legal Liabilities in the Fine Print

TechCrunch flagged a detail in the S-1's 36 pages of risk factors: SpaceX disclosed legal fights stemming from its absorption of Musk's other companies — specifically xAI and X (formerly Twitter). SpaceX estimates those battles will likely cost it $530 million.

The Numbers and the Questions

Most outlets are leading with the $1.75 trillion valuation as an inevitable triumph. SpaceX is a genuinely remarkable company. But a company targeting that valuation while losing $4.9 billion annually, spending $20 billion on a lagging AI division, and giving public shareholders no real voting power raises questions about investor protection and corporate structure.

Musk merged a money-losing AI startup into a rocket company, loaded the balance sheet with AI capital expenditure, and is now asking the public to fund it at a premium valuation.

What This Means for Regular People

If you have a 401(k) or index fund exposure, large institutional allocations to this IPO will eventually be inside retirement accounts. Crypto Briefing noted that an offering of this scale — potentially $50 to $75 billion raised — will pull enormous institutional capital into the deal.

For retail investors considering a direct purchase: SpaceX has real businesses, a visionary founder, and a genuine future in space and defense. It also has $37 billion in accumulated losses, a struggling AI division, $530 million in pending legal costs, and voting stock that carries minimal influence.

Starship Flight 12 is expected as early as this week, per TechCrunch. The ticker is SPCX. The IPO date is June 12.