When Will SpaceX Go Public?

SpaceX is sending four civilians to orbit this week, on Sep. 15. The SpaceX rocket will depart from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and take its passengers 360 miles from Earth for at least three days.

SpaceX is a rocket manufacturer and space transportation services company headquartered in California. The company was founded by Elon Musk in 2002 with the objective of reducing space transportation costs. In Oct. 2020, Morgan Stanley increased its valuation of SpaceX to over $100 billion from $52 billion in Jul. 2020. Currently, SpaceX is a privately held company. When will Elon Musk’s SpaceX go public?

SpaceX’s Falcon9 spacecraft is set to depart from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sep. 15, in a five-hour window beginning at 8:02 p.m ET. Four civilians will be aboard the SpaceX rocket in the Inspiration4 mission, which will be traveling 360 miles from Earth for at least three days.

The mission, as described by the Kennedy Space Center, "marks the first all-civilian mission to orbit. Commanded by Jared Isaacman, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Shift4 Payments and a pilot and adventurer, Inspiration4 will carry a crew of four into low Earth orbit for multiple days. The mission’s goal is to raise awareness and funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital."

SpaceX doesn’t have to share its finances with anyone since it's a privately owned company. As a result, nobody apart from SpaceX executives knows how the company makes money. According to Forbes, SpaceX earns most of its money by launching satellites into orbit and by transporting cargo to and from the International Space Station.

SpaceX charges its clients much less per launch for this service compared with its competitors. Forbes writes, “Although this has resulted in profit margins being small compared to incumbents, it allows SpaceX to line up more launches—giving it more opportunity to refine and advance its expertise in reusing components.”

SpaceX is a privately held company and only a few accredited investors own equity. As a result, you won’t find a SpaceX's ticker symbol on your broker’s list of stocks available to trade—a search for a SpaceX stock quote will come up empty at Robinhood, TD Ameritrade, and Webull. Furthermore, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk doesn't have plans to take SpaceX public right now. According to Musk, the company’s long-term goals clash with shareholders' short-term demands.

Musk owns 54 percent of SpaceX and controls voting rights for 78 percent of shares. Its other investors include Google, Fidelity, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, and Capricorn Investment Group.

SpaceX and Tesla are different business entities. SpaceX is a privately owned company, while Tesla is publicly traded. The companies operate in very different industries, and Musk owns just 20 percent of Tesla.