SpaceX $1.5 trillion IPO. Here's what it means
Data centres in space and a raise that is highly likely to exceed $30 billion
SpaceX is gearing up for one of the largest capital raises in corporate history, and the reason is far bigger than rockets or satellite internet. The company is now pursuing a space-based data centre constellation, an orbital compute layer designed to host AI workloads, data processing, and high-performance computing off-planet.
This is not an incremental extension of Starlink. It is a new industrial category, and its price tag runs into the tens of billions of dollars. That scale drives every number investors are now watching.
Most of SpaceX’s current revenue comes from Starlink, the fast-growing satellite broadband service that now spans thousands of satellites and millions of customers. Starlink offers cash flow and a manufacturing flywheel, but it does not produce enough capital to fund the next leap.
Building compute infrastructure in orbit requires purchasing vast quantities of AI chips, hardened server hardware, thermal management systems, launch mass, and a distributed architecture capable of surviving in extreme space environments. The company sees this as a natural extension of its vertically integrated model: if Starlink brought the internet down to Earth, orbital compute would push heavy processing back into space.
Against that backdrop, SpaceX is targeting a mid-2026 IPO, with investors circulating valuation estimates around $1.5 trillion. This is not a traditional valuation anchored to near-term revenue.
It is a reflection of how much capital SpaceX needs to raise, more than $30 billion, according to current expectations, and how the market is likely to price a company that sits at the centre of launch, broadband, satellite manufacturing, and now orbital cloud infrastructure. If the number holds, the offering would eclipse the $29.4 billion raised by Saudi Aramco in 2019, setting a new global record.
The funding is earmarked for the components and deployment of the space-based data centre constellation. That includes large purchases of AI accelerators, networking systems optimised for inter-satellite links, and the expansion of SpaceX’s manufacturing and launch cadence to support sustained deployment.
Early reports indicate the project timeline is intact and that investor attention is unusually high, given how few companies have the operational capacity to attempt something on this scale.
A $1.5 trillion valuation reflects the magnitude of the ambition as much as the expected impact. If successful, SpaceX would not merely expand Starlink; it would create a new infrastructure layer that competes with or complements terrestrial cloud providers.
AI workloads increasingly demand more compute, more cooling, and more power than data centres on Earth can easily accommodate. Orbital compute changes the physics: virtually unlimited cooling, no land constraints, and global distribution by default. The company’s raise is therefore less about funding another product and more about defining a new market.
What it means
For SpaceX, this is a pivot from being the world’s most capable launch company to becoming a potential heavyweight in the future of AI infrastructure. For investors, the IPO represents a test of how far markets are willing to stretch for a vision that blends commercial space, cloud computing, and AI at planetary scale. And for the tech industry, the project signals that the next wave of AI infrastructure may not be built on Earth at all.
