June 12, 2026, is destined to be a day the global capital markets will never forget. SpaceX, the commercial spaceflight giant led by Elon Musk, will officially debut on the Nasdaq today, Eastern Time, under the ticker SPCX.
SpaceX’s IPO has shattered traditional pricing norms—there’s no price range for bookbuilding. The offering price is locked in at $135 per share, with 555.6 million shares issued, raising approximately $75 billion and valuing the company at around $1.77 trillion. This figure not only eclipses the $29.4 billion record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019, but also makes SpaceX the largest IPO in history, instantly surpassing Tesla (about $1.5 trillion) and Meta (about $1.4 trillion) in market capitalization.
Investor enthusiasm for this capital markets event has far exceeded expectations. By the time pricing was set, total subscriptions for SpaceX had already surpassed $250 billion, with oversubscription multiples reaching 3.5 to 4 times. Several institutions each subscribed for more than $10 billion, and retail investors committed over $100 billion.
Gate’s Direct IPO Access Sees Frenzied Demand: $143 Million Subscribed, Lowering the Barrier for Retail Investors
In this historic IPO, cryptocurrency exchange Gate played a unique role. On June 9, Gate officially launched its "IPO Access" feature, allowing ordinary users to participate in top-tier global IPOs like SpaceX through a digitalized subscription process for the first time.
Users could participate with as little as 100 USDT, without the need to open a foreign brokerage account or navigate complex fiat conversion procedures. The subscription period ran from June 9 to June 12, with a reference price of $135 per share. Gate used a weighted allocation mechanism: the earlier users subscribed and the longer they locked their funds, the higher their allocation weight. Allocated shares became tradable on Gate’s stock section on the listing day, with no lockup period—removing the liquidity constraints common to traditional IPO products.
By June 12, total subscriptions through Gate’s IPO Access surpassed $143 million, with 13,400 participants. The overwhelming response underscored SpaceX’s massive appeal to global investors and showcased Gate’s innovative ability to bridge the crypto and global equity markets.
Space Sector Stocks Surge: Investors Rush In Ahead of SpaceX’s Listing
The anticipation surrounding SpaceX’s IPO is creating significant spillover effects across the entire space sector. On the eve of the listing, U.S. space-related stocks surged in pre-market trading.
Specifically, Firefly Aerospace led gains with a 6.9% rise, Satellogic climbed 5.9%, Redwire advanced 5.6%, and BlackSky Technology gained 5.4%. Rocket Lab, AST SpaceMobile, and Intuitive Machines each rose 5.1%, Planet Labs was up 4.6%, and Voyager Technologies increased 4.3%.
Post-market moves were even more dramatic. Virgin Galactic Holdings soared 17% after hours, Redwire rose 4.6%, EchoStar climbed 4.8%, AST SpaceMobile was up 3.9%, and Satellogic gained 4.0%. The Procure Space ETF, focused on the space industry, also jumped 4.7%, indicating that capital was flowing across the entire space economy.
Analysts generally agree that SpaceX’s listing is much more than a single-company event. It sets a valuation benchmark for the commercial space industry, and investors increasingly see it as a catalyst for a sector-wide revaluation. Most publicly listed space companies are small- to mid-cap and lack a true industry leader, but SpaceX’s massive $1.8 trillion valuation is expected to have a ripple effect on sector multiples.
What’s even more notable is that this effect isn’t limited to the U.S. market. When the A-share market opened on June 12, 2026, China’s commercial space sector rallied sharply. The HuAn Aerospace ETF (159267) surged 6.17% intraday. Component stocks like Chenxi Aviation jumped 19.96%, AVIC Chengfei rose 11.58%, and AVIC High-Tech gained 10.03%. The broader aerospace and aviation sector also led the market, with stocks such as Chenxi Aviation, Aerospace Development, AVIC Xi’an Aircraft, and Aero Engine Technology hitting their daily limits. The Tianhong Aerospace & Aviation ETF (159241) index climbed 5.01%.
Valuation Rerating: Why SpaceX’s IPO Could Lift the Entire Sector
SpaceX’s lofty valuation is fundamentally the capital market applying a tech platform valuation framework to a space company still in a heavy investment phase. Investors aren’t buying into a single launch business or a traditional satellite operator. Instead, they’re investing in a rapidly expanding space infrastructure platform—from Starlink’s satellite internet and reusable Starship rockets to AI computing power leasing in space.
This valuation logic is setting a precedent for the entire industry. SpaceX’s massive compute leasing deals with Google and Anthropic, generating an estimated $26 billion in annualized revenue, have injected a strong AI narrative into its IPO. For the first time, capital markets are assigning a quantifiable value to the "space infrastructure platform" concept, paving the way for a sector-wide revaluation.
Risks and Diverging Views: A Sobering Look Behind the Hype
Yet, Wall Street isn’t unanimously bullish. Renowned short-seller Michael Burry has publicly stated, "Nothing in the filings supports a $1 trillion, let alone $2 trillion, valuation."
From a valuation perspective, SpaceX is priced at a staggering 40 times its projected 2026 sales and 175 times EBITDA. What’s more, only about 4.2% to 5% of shares will be freely floated in this IPO, making tradable shares extremely scarce—95% of equity remains with insiders. Five months after listing, roughly 93% of insider shares will be unlocked, potentially unleashing trillions in selling pressure.
For already-listed space companies, it’s still unclear whether SpaceX’s IPO will serve as a rising tide that lifts all boats or mark a turning point where good news is fully priced in.
Conclusion
With a $1.77 trillion valuation, SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut not only shatters the global IPO record but also expands the imagination for valuing commercial space assets. Gate’s IPO Access, with $143 million in subscriptions, enabled everyday investors to join this historic capital event with minimal barriers.
Pre- and post-market activity shows that capital has already begun to flow into space stocks like Rocket Lab and AST SpaceMobile, while China’s commercial space sector has seen a wave of limit-up rallies. SpaceX’s listing could trigger a sector-wide revaluation, especially for listed companies with core technologies, solid order books, and robust cash flows.
However, investors should remain cautious: SpaceX’s lofty valuation, the scarcity of tradable shares and resulting potential selling pressure, and the risk of corrections in space stocks following sharp rallies are all important factors to consider. Ultimately, the true value of SpaceX’s IPO may not lie in its first-day price surge, but in how it sets the stage for capital pricing in the new era of the space economy.
