• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change fake, is now threatening Brazil with tariffs over the deforestation of the Amazon

2

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

3

'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032

1

Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change fake, is now threatening Brazil with tariffs over the deforestation of the Amazon

2

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

3

'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
SuccessIPOs

SpaceX IPO targets $28.5 trillion total addressable market, mission to ‘make life multiplanetary’ and understand ‘true nature of the universe’

Nick Lichtenberg
By
Nick Lichtenberg
Nick Lichtenberg
Business Editor
Down Arrow Button Icon
Nick Lichtenberg
By
Nick Lichtenberg
Nick Lichtenberg
Business Editor
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 20, 2026, 5:55 PM ET
elon
Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends a state banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on May 14, 2026 in Beijing, China. Both President Trump and President Xi addressed ways to enhance bilateral economic cooperation and investment, and agreed that Iran should not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. According to Chinese state media, Xi emphasized the importance of the Taiwan issue, and that a mishandling could sour U.S.-China relations. Alex Wong/Getty Images

SpaceX filed its long-awaited S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, formally kicking off what is set to be one of the most consequential—and closely watched—initial public offerings in corporate history.

Recommended Video

The company, officially registered as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is seeking to list its Class A common stock on both Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas under the ticker symbol SPCX, with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America leading a sprawling syndicate of more than 20 underwriters. Specific share counts and price ranges were left blank in the preliminary prospectus, as is standard for an initial S-1 filing.

The Numbers

The S-1 reveals, for the first time publicly, the true scale of SpaceX’s business. The company generated $18.7 billion in consolidated revenue in 2025, driven overwhelmingly by its Starlink satellite internet division. The Connectivity segment alone—anchored by Starlink—posted $11.4 billion in 2025 revenue, growing nearly 50% year-over-year, with segment operating income of $4.4 billion.

The company posted a consolidated loss from operations of $2.6 billion in 2025, largely due to the heavy capital demands of its Starship rocket program, which consumed $3 billion in research and development spending last year alone. Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP metric SpaceX emphasized, came in at $6.6 billion for 2025.

Musk Keeps Control

The dual-class share structure ensures that going public will not meaningfully dilute Musk’s grip on the company. Class A shares, which are being sold to the public, carry one vote per share—while Class B shares, which Musk holds, carry 10 votes per share. Class B shareholders are also entitled to elect a majority of the board of directors regardless of the overall vote. SpaceX explicitly states it will qualify as and intends to operate as a “controlled company” under Nasdaq rules, exempting it from certain governance requirements.

SpaceX’s mission statement in the filing is ambitious, to say the least: “to build the systems and technologies necessary to make life multiplanetary, to understand the true nature of the universe, and to extend the light of consciousness to the stars.”

The company also bluntly stated that it believes it has identified “the largest actionable total addressable market in human history” — and then put a number on it: $28.5 trillion.

The breakdown is staggering in its scope. SpaceX pegs $370 billion in addressable Space revenue from space-enabled solutions, and $1.6 trillion in Connectivity — split between $870 billion in Starlink Broadband and $740 billion in Starlink Mobile, with additional enterprise and government opportunity on top. But the overwhelming majority of the claimed TAM sits in AI: $26.5 trillion, spanning $2.4 trillion in AI infrastructure, $760 billion in consumer subscriptions, $600 billion in digital advertising, and a staggering $22.7 trillion in enterprise applications.

The company notes, almost as an aside, that these global estimates exclude China and Russia.

The claim will almost certainly draw scrutiny from analysts and investors — TAM figures in S-1 filings are notoriously optimistic, and $28.5 trillion represents roughly the entire annual GDP of the United States and more than that of the EU. But for a company that spans rockets, satellite internet, the world’s largest AI training cluster, a social media platform with hundreds of millions of users, and ambitions to colonize Mars, the argument that it is competing across every major technology market of the next century is, at minimum, not easily dismissed.

The prospectus includes concrete milestones to back up the vision. As of March 31, 2026, Starlink had 10.3 million subscribers across 164 countries and territories, and operated approximately 9,600 satellites in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX says it has launched more than 80% of all mass to orbit globally each year since 2023 (approximately 7,400 metric tons), with a 99%-plus mission success rate across its Falcon rockets. Starship—the fully reusable rocket still in flight testing—is expected to begin payload delivery to orbit in the second half of 2026.

Looking further out, the company says it plans to begin deploying orbital AI compute satellites as early as 2028, effectively positioning space as the next frontier for data center infrastructure, powered by solar energy collected in Sun-synchronous orbit.

For this story, Fortune journalists used generative AI as a research tool. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.

The Fortune 500 Innovation Forum will convene Fortune 500 executives, U.S. policy officials, top founders, and thought leaders to help define what’s next for the American economy, Nov. 16-17 in Detroit. Apply here.
About the Author
Nick Lichtenberg
By Nick LichtenbergBusiness Editor
LinkedIn icon

Nick Lichtenberg is business editor and was formerly Fortune's executive editor of global news.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Success

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Success

penn
North Americatransit
‘I’m not focused on names at all’: Rumors of Trump Station replacing Penn Station in New York batted aside
By Philip Marcelo and The Associated PressJune 9, 2026
9 hours ago
Alex Karp
SuccessView from the C-Suite
Palantir CEO Alex Karp says executives who brag about their AI cuts might as well ‘sign up for the Bernie Sanders manifesto’
By Preston ForeJune 9, 2026
9 hours ago
Stephen Schwarzman’s grandfather inspired the Blackstone billionaire’s philanthropy: It was ‘his privilege to help others in need’
Successphilanthropy
Stephen Schwarzman’s grandfather inspired the Blackstone billionaire’s philanthropy: It was ‘his privilege to help others in need’
By Sydney LakeJune 9, 2026
9 hours ago
wood
North AmericaObituary
One of America’s greatest historians just died at 92 after being hit by a car in a supermarket parking lot
By Hillel Italie and The Associated PressJune 9, 2026
9 hours ago
Teenage boy on laptop
SuccessJobs
Around 22 million teenagers are making their pocket money on video games, online reselling, and in-game platforms like Roblox
By Emma BurleighJune 9, 2026
10 hours ago
noah
SuccessMedia
This CEO says he’s helping journalists double their salaries by going to work for brands. But is it journalism—and does it matter?
By Nick LichtenbergJune 9, 2026
14 hours ago

Most Popular

Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change fake, is now threatening Brazil with tariffs over the deforestation of the Amazon
Environment
Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change fake, is now threatening Brazil with tariffs over the deforestation of the Amazon
By Sasha RogelbergJune 8, 2026
1 day ago
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
Asia
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
By Kate O'Keeffe and BloombergJune 8, 2026
1 day ago
'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
Economy
'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
By Nick LichtenbergJune 9, 2026
8 hours ago
Current price of oil as of June 8, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 8, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 8, 2026
1 day ago
Gen Zers are arriving at college unable to even read a sentence—professors warn it could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates
Success
Gen Zers are arriving at college unable to even read a sentence—professors warn it could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates
By Preston ForeJune 7, 2026
2 days ago
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
Success
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
By Preston ForeJune 8, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.