SpaceX’s long-awaited stock market debut is set to make history, with the company’s initial public offering on the Nasdaq poised to become the largest ever, targeting a raise of around $75 billion.
The Elon Musk-led rocket and satellite firm has set an IPO price of $135 per share, giving it a target valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion. Shares are scheduled to begin trading on 12 June.
How the SpaceX IPO could lift the wider space sector
High-profile flotations can act as a “rising tide” for an entire industry, and the SpaceX listing is expected to generate a pronounced “halo effect” for companies operating in adjacent areas of the space economy. Businesses involved in satellite technology, launch services and defence infrastructure — names that might otherwise be overlooked by investors — could benefit from the attention drawn by the headline act.
“A SpaceX listing could do exactly that for space,” said Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services. However, he cautioned that an IPO is not always a “one and done” event. While a first-day “pop” is common, the period immediately after a listing can be volatile, and SpaceX is expected to bring more share price movement than usual, and for longer. Investors across the broader sector could therefore be in for an equally bumpy ride as the halo effect works both ways.
The fundamentals behind the space investment case look robust and durable, according to Pierre Debru, head of research, Europe at WisdomTree. He said the SpaceX IPO could be a “defining milestone” in driving the sector’s broader appeal. As the industry matures, launch systems are expected to become more efficient, easier to access and cheaper, expanding the opportunity set across the value chain. Emerging applications, including in-orbit manufacturing, servicing and space-based data infrastructure, are also opening new markets and reinforcing the long-term growth potential of the theme.
Investor interest surges in the run-up to the float
Retail investors have not been sitting on their hands waiting for the SpaceX IPO. Data from investing platform AJ Bell, based on the highest number of net buys on its DIY investor platform between 8 March and 8 June 2026, shows that space-related investments have featured heavily in the most popular purchases over the past three months.
“More people bought shares in Scottish Mortgage, Seraphim or the VanEck Space ETF during the past three months than blue chip stocks Shell, BP, AstraZeneca and National Grid, all of which regularly feature in the most popular names with UK investors,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. “That’s remarkable as these names are stalwarts of ISAs and pensions across the country.”
AJ Bell’s ranking of the most popular space investments by net buys includes a mix of direct SpaceX stakeholders, satellite and launch specialists, and broader thematic funds. Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, Seraphim Space Investment Trust, the VanEck Space Innovators ETF, and Rocket Lab all saw strong demand. BAE Systems, which is developing the Azalea satellite system, was also on the list but fell 12% over the three-month period. By contrast, SpaceX supplier Filtronic and spacecraft builder Redwire both more than doubled in value in the months leading up to the IPO.
Other names in the top 15 include AST SpaceMobile, RIT Capital Partners, the Schiehallion Fund, Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust, Planet Labs, Chemring, Qinetiq, and Airbus, described by AJ Bell as the largest space company in Europe.
How to invest in the space theme
For investors looking to ride the space wave, the options range from buying shares in already-listed companies to gaining pre-IPO exposure through specialist investment trusts. Chelsea Financial Services favours Baillie Gifford’s Schiehallion Fund, which holds eight of the ten largest private companies in the world, including Bending Spoons, ByteDance, Databricks, Revolut, Stripe and Anthropic — the latter having announced its own plans to IPO alongside OpenAI since the start of June. “These managers have deep private equity networks and the expertise to value private businesses that most ordinary investors simply cannot replicate, and by getting in before a listing, investors can capture far more of the growth,” said McDermott.
For direct space sector exposure, Chelsea also recommends Chrysalis and Seraphim Space Investment Trust, which offers both ordinary and C-shares. “Without specialist knowledge, it can be hard to know which ones to back, but investment trusts offer retail investors a ready-made route to some of the best pre-IPO opportunities,” McDermott added.
Investors who prefer to avoid the administrative burden of an IPO can look for similar companies already listed on the open market. McDermott suggested the Schroder US Mid Cap Fund as a way to gain indirect, diversified exposure. Its holdings include Hexcel, which makes composite materials used in spacecraft for clients such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin; MACOM Technology Solutions, whose semiconductors are critical to satellite communications; and BWX Technologies, which provides nuclear propulsion and power components for NASA space programmes.
Exchange-traded funds offer another route. The ARK Private Innovation ELTIF is available only via a financial adviser, but UK investors can access the VanEck Space Innovators UCITS ETF or the newly launched WisdomTree Space Economy UCITS ETF, which began trading on the London Stock Exchange on 5 June. For those who prefer active management, Neuberger Berman’s Next Generation Space Economy Fund — launched four years ago with a mandate that the space economy is “more than rockets and satellites” — invests in areas as diverse as banking, precision agriculture, air traffic control and ride sharing.
