SpaceX files securities documents to go public: source

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has filed confidential papers with US securities regulators for what could be the largest-ever public stock offering, a source familiar with the matter tells AFP.

The filing puts SpaceX on track to list on a public exchange by July, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.

SpaceX does not immediately respond to a request for comment. Officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission declined comment.

US media have reported that the IPO could be valued at a whopping $75 billion or more for a venture with stratospheric ambitions.

The IPO looks set to blow past the biggest public offering on record from 2019, when the oil group Saudi Aramco raised $25.6 billion.

SpaceX, which dominates the space launch market with its reusable rockets, is owned by Musk alongside several investment funds and tech companies, including Google’s parent Alphabet.

The company’s rockets vastly reduce the cost of putting satellites into orbit. SpaceX is also the owner of the Starlink satellite constellation.

In February, Musk announced that SpaceX was taking over his artificial intelligence outfit xAI, a step in the billionaire’s plan to use SpaceX’s rockets to launch solar-powered, satellite-based data centers to develop and run future AI models.