SpaceX Stock: How to Own Shares before the IPO

Explore opportunities to invest in SpaceX stock before the IPO. Monitor pre-IPO share availability at Hiive*. 

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Recent SpaceX News

01/23/2025: Addition Spurs New Cash Into Little-Known ETF
12/10/2024: SpaceX Share Sale Values Company at About $350 Billion
12/02/2024: SpaceX Weighs Tender Offer at Roughly $350 Billion Valuation
11/15/2024: SpaceX Share Sale Values Company Around $255 Billion
Older news…

About SpaceX

SpaceX (short for Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) is a spacecraft and exploration company based in Brownsville, TX (formerly, Hawthorne, CA) that makes rockets, launch engines, satellites, and human transport modules. 

It is the largest private U.S. company as measured by valuation. 

Founder Elon Musk started SpaceX in 2002 with a mission to make humanity multiplanetary. 

The key to achieving his mission is lowering the cost of launching rockets into space by making them reusable and enabling larger payloads.

SpaceX became the first private company to deliver cargo and humans to and from the International Space Station.

Its spacecraft include the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, multiple rocket engines, Dragon spacecraft (cargo and crew), and Starlink communications satellites.

The Falcon rockets are the SpaceX workhorses, carrying satellites and cargo into orbit for private customers and governments. Falcons deliver Starlink satellites into low orbit to provide global internet access. 

Starship is the next-generation spacecraft that will eventually deliver cargo and humans to space stations by Axiom and Sierra, and ultimately, Mars. 

SpaceX is one of several Elon Musk companies. Others include Tesla, X Corp/Twitter, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI. 

Ownership

SpaceX is a venture-backed private company. Equity owners include Elon Musk, early investors, employees, private investors, and multiple venture capital firms.

The company has raised more than $9 billion since 2002.

Prominent venture capital investors include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Fidelity, GV, Rothenberg Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Gigafund, and Andreessen Horowitz.

Funding Rounds

WordPress Data Table Plugin

Valuation

The SpaceX valuation is $255 billion based on a tender offer completed in November 2024. However, another tender offer may be in the works, valuing the company at $350 million, a $95 billion value gain in 17 days. 

This volatility makes the SpaceX valuation hard to truly decipher at this stage. 

Pre-IPO marketplaces suggest the valuation has continued to increase since the tender offer and is likely north of $250 billion as of early December 2024. 

Competitor Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s space launch and orbital habitat company, is substantially smaller. 

IPO Potential

The SpaceX IPO date is currently unknown. Recent private funding rounds suggest a SpaceX IPO is years away. 

Elon Musk will need a lot more money to colonize Mars than he already has. An IPO can help raise money. 

Musk may want to keep SpaceX private longer to increase its private valuation so that an eventual IPO will be the largest ever. Keeping SpaceX private could be his “dry powder”. 

In the meantime, a spinoff IPO of the SpaceX subsidiary, Starlink, is a more likely vehicle to raise cash sooner. 

For now, a SpaceX IPO is not in the cards. Musk claims the private funding rounds and tender offers have provided sufficient liquidity for employees and early investors and plans to mimic that model for Twitter.

As a private company, internal management and the Board of Directors determine what to do with earnings. But if SpaceX were to become a publicly-traded company, it would have to answer to shareholders.

Though a SpaceX IPO would surely raise billions, its goal to colonize Mars may not appeal to investors because the costs of going to Mars could make the company unprofitable for decades. 

Going to Mars will not be a business venture, at least not at first. It’s a humanitarian mission to hedge against Earth’s inevitable demise. 

However, Musk has spoken of a nearer-term Starlink IPO spinoff. The Starlink subsidiary is closer to profitability than the whole of SpaceX.

Starlink IPO

Musk has said in employee meetings that he wants to conduct a Starlink IPO spinoff in 2025 or 2026.

He also said this on Twitter:

We will probably IPO Starlink, but only several years in the future when revenue growth is smooth & predictable. Public market does *not* like erratic cash flow haha. I’m a huge fan of small retail investors. Will make sure they get top priority. You can hold me to it.

— Mr. Tweet (@elonmusk) September 28, 2020

Bloomberg reported on November 15th, 2023, that Starlink was considering a Starlink spinoff in late 2024.

SpaceX has been moving the satellite unit’s assets to a wholly owned subsidiary that would ultimately be spun off in the IPO

Musk responded to the report that it was “false”. 

Starlink has the potential to generate billions of dollars of revenue. Once the network of satellites is in place, revenues should outpace maintenance costs, generating significant profits. 

So why not keep Starlink with SpaceX?

Spinning Starlink off to the public markets would provide a capital-raising vehicle for Starlink to invest in growth. As we’ve seen with Tesla, the company can issue additional shares to raise capital when the stock valuation surges.

Not only could it raise significant money in a Starlink IPO, but SpaceX would also likely retain a large ownership percentage of the new company in a favorably tailored share class.

As Starlink stock rises, SpaceX has an asset that grows in value, allowing it to sell shares or receive preferred payments. It could still raise more private funds at a higher valuation.

If Starlink can generate $30 billion in revenue as another Elon Musk company, fanboys and investors would salivate to own it, driving up the stock price. 

Analysts and high-profile private investors have predicted an earlier spinoff timeline. 

How to Invest in SpaceX

Since SpaceX is a private company, it can challenging to become an equity owner today. Though it’s become easier recently. 

The author has seen evidence of pre-IPO investment opportunities in SpaceX stock on multiple platforms.

You can take action to improve your chances of early equity ownership or acquire shares later during the IPO. 

Here are some ways to own or prepare to own SpaceX stock today and in the future. 

1. Access Direct Shares on Pre-IPO investing platforms

The author has seen evidence of SpaceX stock availability on pre-IPO investing platforms based in the U.S.

Most recently, SpaceX stock was available on Hiive, though shares are fair prices sell out quickly without little r

Investors can also monitor other pre-IPO investing platforms such as Forge Global, Linqto, and EquityZen for equity access. 

More shares may become available elsewhere. This may be more likely if the company raises another round of private equity capital or if SpaceX loosens restrictions on ownership. 

The SEC requires pre-IPO investors in individual companies to be accredited.

Check out our list of top pre-IPO investing platforms to explore current share availability. 

If shares become available, these platforms require minimum investments of $2,500 to $50,000 or more. It’s free to sign up for online access to pre-IPO data and deal alerts. 

Pre-IPO investing platforms empower users to indicate interest in companies they wish to invest in.

If enough investors indicate interest in a particular company, the pre-IPO platforms may actively reach out to equity holders to try to acquire shares for accredited investors.

2. Buy the ARK Venture Fund (Cathie Wood)

Retail investors can bypass the accreditation requirement to own pre-IPO companies by owning venture capital funds. 

Venture capital funds are a relatively new asset class for non-accredited investors.

The first two pre-IPO venture capital funds are: 

• The ARK Venture Fund (review)
• The Fundrise Innovation Fund (review)

Each fund has a low minimum investment ($500 for ARK Venture Fund and $10 for Fundrise). All U.S.-based retail investors can own the fund. 

SpaceX was acquired in the ARK Venture Fund in November 2023. Retail investors can buy the ARK Venture Fund today to own a small portion of SpaceX.

Cathie Wood, the famous investor who runs the ARK Venture Fund, has connections with Elon Musk and his associated investors. 

She secured ownership in the Twitter Musk takeout deal through her relationship with Andreessen Horowitz. Retail investors can now own a small piece of private Twitter through the fund. 

It looks like this relationship led to her acquisition of SpaceX stock. 

Bookmark this page for the latest. 

Please note: This is a testimonial in partnership with Fundrise. We earn a commission from partner links on AccessIPOs.com. All opinions are my own.

3. Fidelity Mutual Funds

Multiple Fidelity mutual have have investments in SpaceX. The most notable include:

• Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX)
• Fidelity OTC (FOCPX)
• Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund (FBGRX)
• Fidelity Growth Company Fund (FDGRX)

For example, the Contrafund owns about $2.7 billion worth of SpaceX shares as of January 2025. The holding is among several public companies. The SpaceX value is “marked to market” on occasion to represent the fair value in the fund. 

That puts it in the top 20 holdings for the fund. But any major moves will not impact the price to the mutual fund. 

4. Buy the XOVR ETF (Entrepreneur Private-Public Crossover ETF)

As of January 23rd, 2025, the XOVR ETF owns 109,609.6095 shares of SpaceX stock, weighted at about 7.5% of the ETF. 

This is a publicly traded ETF, so investors can buy it like any other ETF and own SpaceX indirectly. 

However, the recent disclosure of holdings has led to a surge of ETF buyers, diluting SpaceX holdings. As more investors pile in, the fund must acquire more SpaceX shares to maintain a high weighting. 

As a traded fund holding a private company, the long-term viability of this investment strategy is unclear. Nonetheless, it’s another option that I like better than the DXYZ. 

Buy any ETF via TradeStation.

5. Own Tesla Stock

Long-time Tesla stock owners may have early access to the Starlink IPO spinoff from SpaceX. 

On June 24th, 2021, Musk tweeted the following in response to a question on Twitter:

At least a few years before Starlink revenue is reasonably predictable. Going public sooner than that would be very painful. Will do my best to give long-term Tesla shareholders preference.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 24, 2021

Though certainly not guaranteed, Musk seems open to offering IPO shares to Tesla shareholders. 

6. Become a Starlink Customer

Musk mentioned Tesla in the tweet above. But you can bet that Starlink customers will get priority access as well. 

I recommend becoming a customer if you want first dibs at the Starlink IPO or SpaceX IPO. Since most of us will not be hiring SpaceX to ferry us or our cargo to orbit, Starlink is the only path to becoming a customer. 

Companies on a path to IPO use directed share programs to give priority access to IPOs.

These programs call out specific populations of people eligible to invest in an IPO, such as executive family members, business partners, or valued customers. 

But not all customers will qualify. 

For example, Uber offered IPO shares to drivers but did not give access to Uber riders. 

Drivers with more completed trips received priority access to more IPO shares. 

Airbnb offered IPO shares to hosts but not users of the service. 

In the case of Starlink, there is a good chance that U.S.-based customers will get access to the IPO upon becoming a customer.

Monitor S-1 filings and pay attention if Starlink files for an IPO — the details of a potential directed share program will appear in amended versions of the S-1 filing.

7. Participate in the Eventual SpaceX IPO

In the earlier tweet embedded above from September 2020, Musk claims the following:

I’m a huge fan of small retail investors. Will make sure they get top priority. You can hold me to it.

IPO access has become more attainable to retail investors in the past few years. Many high-profile IPOs have offered shares to retail investors through participating brokers.  

The following online brokers give customers free access to IPOs, even with low account balances:

• TradeStation 
• Robinhood 

See our complete list here. 

TradeStation has a longer track record of accessing more than 360 IPOs and secondary offerings via its partnership with ClickIPO. 

But Robinhood has the advantage of Silicon Valley networks and a history of getting allocations for high-profile IPOs.

Musk is well-connected enough to choose whatever broker or brokers he wants to allocate shares. 

Now that Musk has declared his commitment to long-term Tesla shareholders and his preference to prioritize “small retail investors”, either platform could land an exclusive deal. 

Access to specific high-demand IPOs may be limited by which brokerage accounts you have and what broker gets exclusive access. 

Investors will need to act fast, as the window to invest will be tight. 

8. Buy SpaceX Stock after the SpaceX IPO

Waiting for the IPO requires patience. There are advantages to waiting until after the IPO before owning stocks. 

IPOs allow investors to review financials via the S-1 filing. Pre-IPO investing has limited financials available. 

IPO stock prices typically rise with high-demand companies. You can benefit if you’re in early and sell when the price overheats.

Many IPOs start with an immediate price increase (“the pop”).

Then the stock falls once quarterly earnings reports become available. This can be a good time to invest. 

The SpaceX IPO is likely to be further away than the Starlink IPO. But patient investors may get a chance to buy shares when they begin trading. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is SpaceX publicly traded?

No. SpaceX is not publicly traded.

What is the SpaceX stock price today?

There is no public SpaceX stock price yet. The company is private. 

But SpaceX stock is relatively liquid for a pre-IPO company because of the large amount of equity and shareholder. Pre-IPO transactions are frequent.

Second half of 2024 transactions have taken place on the Hiive marketplace at $110-$120 per share. Caplight estimates the stock price at about $137 as of early December, 2024.

What is the SpaceX Stock symbol?

SpaceX is still a private company, so there is no SpaceX stock symbol yet. 

Here is one SpaceX ticker suggestion that appears to be available in the U.S.: 

• SX

Note that “X” is the long-time stock symbol of U.S. Steel.

SPCX, SPCE, and SPX are also already in use. 

Where is the SpaceX IPO S-1 Filing?

The SpaceX S-1 filing is not available. The company does not appear to be moving toward an IPO in the next three to five years. 

When the company submits the S-1 filing and releases it to the public, we’ll post it here. 

In the meantime, you can check out the most recent S-1 filings in our S-1 filings feed. 

SpaceX News Archive

09/26/2024: Starlink hits 4 million subscribers
09/17/2024: Starlink has 2,500 airplanes under contract after United deal
05/09/2024: Starlink projects $6.6 billion annual revenue
12/13/2023: SpaceX Value Jumps Closer to $180 Billion in Tender Offer
12/06/2023: SpaceX Valued at $175 Billion or More in Tender Offer
11/22/2023: SpaceX plans to sell shares next month at $150B valuation
11/15/2023: SpaceX Weighs Spinning Off Starlink Via IPO as Soon as 2024
11/10/2023: SpaceX Investor Expects SpaceX’s Starlink to go public around 2027
11/06/2023: SpaceX Eyes $15 Billion in 2024 Sales on Starlink Strength
07/13/2023: SpaceX nears $150 billion valuation
04/20/2023: Starship Launch Ends in “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly”
04/18/2023: SpaceX to Attempt 2nd Starship Launch 4/20 (stream here)
01/05/2023: How Musk’s satellites have saved Ukraine and changed warfare
01/02/2023: SpaceX raising $750 million  at a $137 billion valuation
12/12/2022: SpaceX Tender Offer Is Said to Value Company at $140 Billion
11/16/2022: SpaceX mulling secondary share sale at $150 billion valuation
10/18/2022: Analyst predicts SpaceX could spin off Starlink by 2025
08/05/2022: SpaceX raises another $250 million in equity
06/07/2022: Musk says an IPO of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet business is still 3 or 4 years away
05/22/2022: SpaceX looks to raise $1.7 billion, boosting valuation to $127 billion
10/08/2021: SpaceX hits $100 billion valuation after secondary share sale
02/17/2021: SpaceX Funding Round at $74 Billion Valuation Was Led by Sequoia

Conclusion

SpaceX is a unique company and the largest private unicorn in the United States. With its high-profile CEO and sensational launches, millions want to own the stock. 

Can you invest in SpaceX?

Excitement may lead to searching the internet for information on SpaceX stock or the SpaceX IPO. 

Unfortunately, the company is only investable for some people. Wealthy and institutional investors with the right Wall Street connections have a better chance to own this once-in-a-lifetime juggernaut. 

Though pre-IPO investing platforms have opened more opportunities, private equity investing is still primarily reserved for accredited investors because of the added risk.

It’s usually challenging to acquire shares before the IPO, and I expect SpaceX to be a more significant challenge for most retail investors. 

If you pursue SpaceX stock or Starlink IPO shares, maintain reasonable expectations and patience.

Read more: Space Startups Ready to Launch

Featured photo courtesy of SpaceX.