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Space-X set to trade shares publicly.

The rocket and satellite company founded by Elon Musk in 2002, is preparing to float on the stock market. Currently a private limited company, SpaceX aims to become publicly traded later in 2026.

At present, SpaceX is widely considered the most valuable private company in the world, at around $1.25 trillion (£940 billion). The flotation is expected to raise at least $50 billion by selling shares to members of the public and large investors.

The company makes reusable rockets, which dramatically cuts the cost of sending cargo into space, as well as running Starlink, a vast network of satellites that provides internet access across the globe.

Musk's longer-term ambitions include placing artificial intelligence data centres.

SpaceX has grown significantly through external growth. Earlier in 2026, it merged with xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence business best known for its chatbot Grok, in an all-share deal. xAI had previously taken over X (formerly Twitter) in 2025.

SpaceX is also partnering with Musk's electric vehicle company Tesla on a major new microchip manufacturing project called Terafab, which will use AI developed by xAI.