Bloomberg Businessweek Elon Musk Eyes Record IPO for SpaceX as Lesser-Heralded Players Emerge
Jan 2, 2026
Greg Pendy, Director of Equity Research at Clear Street, dives into the competitive world of space technology. He discusses the recent success of AST SpaceMobile's satellite launch and how it's gearing up against SpaceX. The conversation highlights key players like Planet Labs and Intuitive Machines, along with trends for 2026. Pendy sheds light on the reliance on satellite launch providers and the evolving U.S. space strategy. He even gives Intuitive Machines a nod as a standout for the future, showcasing its potential in the moon market.
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SpaceX Eyeing Record-Breaking IPO
- SpaceX plans a massive IPO to raise roughly $30–40 billion and could value the company near $1.5 trillion.
- The proposed raise primarily funds GPUs and a speculative space-based data-center strategy.
Space-Based Compute As An AI Capacity Bet
- The IPO pitch implies a belief that Earth data-center capacity will be insufficient as AI inference demand grows.
- Space-based compute is framed as energy-efficient due to solar power and thermal advantages in space.
Terrestrial Power Limits Undermine Urgency
- On-Earth constraints matter: some new U.S. data centers already sit idle awaiting grid hookups.
- Practical power and infrastructure limits challenge the urgency of moving compute to space.