SpaceX

SpaceX is a commercial space company founded by Elon Musk with the stated mission of colonizing Mars . It completed the largest IPO in history on June 12, 2026, raising $75 billion at a valuation that reached $2.1 trillion on its first trading day .

The company operates across three main businesses: rocket manufacturing and launch services, satellite internet through its Starlink constellation, and government and defense contracts under its StarShield division . Starlink has become its primary revenue engine, contributing about $11.4 billion of roughly $18.7 billion in 2025 revenue—over 60% of the total—with more than 10 million global subscribers . The vertically integrated model, where SpaceX launches its own satellites on its own rockets, creates a self-reinforcing cycle: Starlink accounts for roughly three-quarters of SpaceX's launch missions, providing guaranteed demand that drives down unit costs and accelerates iteration .

SpaceX's government and defense business has grown into a major profit center. It is building spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office in an $1.8 billion program and recently won two StarShield contracts worth $6.45 billion from the U.S. Space Force for missile tracking and low-orbit communications . These long-term, prepaid contracts carry higher margins than civilian work and help fund Starship development .

The company's rise was precarious in its early years. After three consecutive launch failures of its Falcon 1 rocket, SpaceX faced collapse in 2008 until Peter Thiel's Founders Fund invested $20 million as the sole outside institutional investor in August of that year—a bet that may rank among the most consequential in venture capital history . A month later, Falcon 1's fourth launch succeeded, becoming the first privately developed orbital rocket . The company later won a $1.6 billion NASA supply contract in December 2008 , and has since become NASA's most relied-upon contractor, effectively supplanting Boeing's traditional role in U.S. human spaceflight .