SpaceX valued at 2,650 trillion won in an IPO…would jump to No. 8 globally by market cap

Unrivaled reusable launch vehicle technology

OpenAI, Anthropic also waiting to go public

SpaceX said on the 1st (local time) in an interview with Bloomberg that it is targeting an IPO valuation of $1.75 trillion (about 2,650 trillion won). That is larger than the combined market capitalizations of major listed space and defense companies such as Lockheed Martin ($142.3 billion), Northrop Grumman ($99.7 billion), RTX ($262.0 billion) and Boeing ($169.0 billion). It would immediately rank No. 8 globally by market cap, surpassing Tesla and Meta.

The market also broadly agrees with that valuation. Among global private launch providers competing in the commercial space-launch sector—including SpaceX, Blue Origin and Rocket Lab—SpaceX’s reusable launch vehicle technology is widely regarded as unmatched. After becoming the first in history to successfully reuse the Falcon 9 in 2017, SpaceX has logged more than 500 reuses to date.

SpaceX plans to further cut launch costs using its next-generation launch vehicle, Starship. The industry estimates Falcon 9 launch costs at $1,000–$2,500 per kg. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO, has pledged to bring that down further to $200 per kg with Starship. While Falcon 9 reuses its first-stage booster and discards the second stage in orbit, Starship is designed to reuse both the Starship rocket and the Super Heavy booster. Its payload capacity is also designed to exceed 100t—about five times that of Falcon 9 (22.8t).

Once Starship is commercialized, it is expected to open the door to the space economy, which has been constrained by transport-cost limits. A prime example is the space data-center industry. Google believes commercial viability requires launch costs to fall to $500 per kg or less.

SpaceX’s IPO underwriters are said to include Bank of America (BoA), Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. SpaceX’s confidential draft registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not been disclosed, but Reuters reported the company is leaning toward a Nasdaq listing.

SpaceX is expected to go public in June. In the second half of the year, “big fish” such as AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic are also expected to line up for IPOs. OpenAI is valued at $852.0 billion (about 1,280 trillion won), roughly on par with Samsung Electronics. Anthropic’s valuation has also been recognized at $380.0 billion.

Silicon Valley=Correspondent Kim In-yeop inside@hankyung.com