How much is SpaceX worth?

SpaceX, one of the most valued private companies globally, has exploded in popularity and activity in recent years. This has caused many to wonder how much SpaceX is worth and how/when can you buy its stock?

SpaceX’s value

Finding SpaceX’s true value is a bit tricky as it is a private company. We have to gain insight from private sales of shares or funding amounts to learn the company’s total value. SpaceX is most likely the second most valuable private company in the world, right behind Bytedance. Yup, SpaceX is just below TikTok’s company in total valuation.

SpaceX’s last funding round was in May 2022 for about $1.7 billion in new funds. In December, Bloomberg reported that SpaceX was allowing insiders to sell shares at $77 a share bringing its valuation to about $140 billion. However, in January SpaceX began a search for new funding led by the same VC that closed Elon Musk’s deal with Twitter.

According to CNBC, the space company was looking for $750 million in additional funds. The emails obtained stated SpaceX was worth at least $137 billion. Since then, however, there have not been any reports with the SEC of any sale of stock so it would be safe to assume this funding round did not close.

This valuation put them in line with other defense companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin (owners of United Launch Alliance, SpaceX’s biggest competitor). While those two companies are extremely diverse in their revenue, SpaceX is hyper-focused on space with its rockets and satellite services.

How far could SpaceX’s value rise?

The most significant players with SpaceX’s future valuation will be Starship and Starlink. These two programs could bring large amounts of wealth to the company, allowing it to be a leader in the telecommunications and transportation industries.

It’s still rather unknown how high these two products will increase how much SpaceX is worth but some estimates put it close to a trillion dollars.

Starlink: the next big thing for SpaceX

SpaceX’s worldwide internet constellation, Starlink, left beta and now serves over 100,000 users worldwide. In the future, it is expected to grow in both commercial and enterprise users. The US Department of Defense has also shown some interest in seeing the technology developed, although there is no guarantee of a contract. Starlink has also shown great success in Ukraine. Where Russia’s aggression has caused large groups of the population to loose connection to the internet.

By 2025, Forbes predicts Starlink to grow and garner 2.3% of internet users, about 5.6 million, and have a value of $31.1 billion.

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Starship: SpaceX’s possible secret treasure

SpaceX’s super heavy-lift fully reusable rocket, Starship, is still under development in South Texas. The goal for Starship is to fulfill SpaceX’s mission by colonizing Mars. This sort of vehicle has the abilty to completely disrupt the launch services market, out pricing competitors.

Starship however is still nowhere near operational. SpaceX recently completed its first integration launch of the rocket which went far better than expected. While getting to its first launch in just four years is impressive, it’s still not enough to consider it a viable launch option for the masses just yet.

Starship and Starlink’s reliance on each other

In an email Space Explored reported in November 2021, Musk states how vital Starship development is to Starlink’s survival.

The consequences for SpaceX if we can not get enough reliable Raptors made is that we then can’t fly Starship, which means we then can’t fly Starlink Satellite V2 (Falcon has neither the volume nor the mass to orbit needed for satellite V2). Satellite V1, by itself, is financially weak, while V2 is strong.

Later in the email, Musk attempts to rally the troops stating, “we face a genuine risk of bankruptcy if we can’t achieve a Starship flight rate of at least once every two weeks next year.” Of course, doing what SpaceX does is extremely difficult and takes a lot of capital to keep it going. While this may seem far fetch to happen, Musk stated in reply to our reporting, “while still unlikely, is not impossible.”

How to buy SpaceX stock

SpaceX’s stock isn’t available publicly, as all shares are bought and sold privately between cooperations. However, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has stated he would take the company public once it has secured Martian colonization. This is to ensure that the company’s goal will not be influenced by investors worried about increasing profits.

Musk’s disdain for taking SpaceX public was shown in a leaked company-wide email from 2013 where he said:

I am increasingly concerned about SpaceX going public before the Mars transport system is in place. Creating the technology needed to establish life on Mars is and always has been the fundamental goal of SpaceX. If being a public company diminishes that likelihood, then we should not do so until Mars is secure.

Elon Musk in a 2013 internal SpaceX email

In response to the email, Musk said, “A lot has happened in 8 years.” Of course, what that could mean is anyone’s best guest.

That being said, Starlink has a larger chance of becoming publicly traded in the near future. Both Musk and the President of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell, have stated that Starlink could be spun off as a separate IPO in the future. However, Musk will not until revenue becomes more predictable and manufacturing costs are reduced.

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