Elon Musk said on Monday that he is working in Texas to prepare an initial public offering for SpaceX. He appeared virtually at the Samson International Smart Mobility summit in Tel Aviv and explained his physical absence by saying he needed to focus on the SpaceX IPO preparations.
Musk stated that they need to start SpaceX's primary share offering soon. According to Bloomberg, the company could file the required documents as early as this week. The planned IPO could raise up to $75 billion in capital, implying a valuation in excess of $2 trillion — a figure that would make the transaction the largest initial public offering in history.
SpaceX has grown into one of the most influential players in the space industry and holds multibillion-dollar government contracts. The company is also involved in Donald Trump’s Golden Dome rocket-defense program: the U.S. Space Force has set aside $3.2 billion for space-based interceptor missile prototypes. Alongside SpaceX, contractors working on these developments include Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX and Anduril Industries.
Driverless cars: Musk predicts broad U.S. deployment by year-end
At the conference Musk also addressed autonomous driving. He said that truly driverless vehicles without a safety driver could be widely operational in the United States by the end of this year. In a related investor presentation tied to Tesla’s latest quarterly report, Musk indicated the company aims to launch an uncrewed robotaxi service in “a dozen states” by year-end.
Tesla has said the new ride service will also launch in the first half of the year in several cities, including Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Las Vegas. The company plans to spend more than $25 billion this year on “physical artificial intelligence” development, covering work across automotive and robotics domains.
In Europe, Dutch authorities recently approved a contested variant of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver-assistance system. Musk suggested this step could be a precursor to European Union-level approval he expects in the second quarter. A key distinction is that the version approved in Europe is not identical to the U.S. variant: in Europe the driver must continue to monitor the vehicle and be ready to take control at any time.
Why this matters
A potential valuation above $2 trillion and a $75 billion capital raise would be highly significant for both the space industry and financial markets, representing a record-sized IPO. Musk’s comments on autonomous driving and robotaxi deployment also highlight major industry expectations for the near-term evolution of transportation and artificial intelligence.
This article does not constitute investment advice or recommendation.
Tags: Tesla, SpaceX, Elon Musk, IPO, autonomous vehicle, FSD, Golden Dome, rocket defense
Image used for illustration.
Sources: Bloomberg reporting and Elon Musk’s remarks at the Samson International Smart Mobility summit.
