From Starship to IPO—SpaceX’s Capital Narrative Is Rewriting History

“Looking at a company’s future isn’t about what it sells, but about what it is changing.”

SpaceX’s decision to go public has attracted global attention for far more than the massive fundraising and astonishing valuation; it is because it shows the world how deeply space technology and capital are intertwined. And as of late May 2026, SpaceX’s Starship system—the third-generation V3 spacecraft—successfully completed its first flight test, becoming the most weighty “ultimate roadshow” ahead of the company’s listing.

In this “dozen flights,” the V3 system, made up of the interplanetary spacecraft and the Super Heavy booster, reached a total height of about 124 meters, with 33 upgraded Raptor 3 engines installed. The spacecraft deployed 22 simulated Starlink satellites and completed a series of novel “space health check”–style tests, including removing a heat-shield tile to study the extreme tolerance limits of the thermal protection system—accumulating valuable data for future rapid reuse. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration later determined that an anomalous incident occurred during the booster recovery phase, and it has asked SpaceX to conduct an investigation. However, the first overall flight of Starship V3 still achieved most of its planned objectives, further proving that SpaceX continues to lead in both rocket recovery and space technology.

Why did SpaceX choose to accelerate its IPO at this point in time? Besides the arrival of corporate development milestones, one important driver is that the global market for commercial space is expanding. According to the CCID Think Tank’s outlook, in 2025, China’s commercial space market size will reach 2.83 trillion yuan, up 21.7% year over year, with a five-year compound growth rate of 23.1%, significantly higher than the global average over the same period. Against the backdrop of the global space market expected to exceed $705 billion in 2026, commercial space now accounts for 78%. Data from the Space Foundation shows that in 2024 the global space economy reached $613 billion, of which commercial space contributed 78%; and the global space economy is expected to exceed $1 trillion as early as 2032. Such a broad market outlook forms a positive feedback loop that aligns perfectly with SpaceX’s valuation rise.

However, from the perspective of ordinary investors, SpaceX’s growth story may be exciting, but the entry barrier used to be so high that it was enough to discourage people. In the past, Pre-IPO rounds were often limited to top venture capital firms and qualified institutional investors, leaving individual investors with almost an insurmountable iron curtain. Gate’s Pre-IPOs mechanism changed this situation for the first time through digital means. Gate’s “Mirror Note” structure generates the price algorithmically from real-time quotes in the over-the-counter market (such as Forge Global, Hiive) for underlying assets like SpaceX, enabling price tracking in the form of SPCX tokens. Users can participate with as little as 100 USDT—no need to have qualified investor status. After a successful subscription, the shares are directly credited to the Gate stock account.

In addition, under Gate’s IPO Access architecture, the indicative subscription price is referenced at $135 per share, with a 5% indicative subscription fee required. Once the stock is listed, if price fluctuations exceed 20%, the platform will initiate a secondary confirmation process to safeguard investors’ right to be informed. The maximum amount that can be invested is 500,000 USDT. After the subscription period ends, the allocated shares have no lock-up period, allowing immediate trading of real U.S. stocks. This mechanism greatly improves capital flexibility while avoiding the capital cost incurred by traditional lock-up arrangements.

SpaceX’s IPO is not only a leap in Elon Musk’s personal wealth—according to the prospectus, the book valuation of its shareholdings is already over 866.5 billion—it's also a landmark event that changes the ceiling for retail investors. When Starship charges toward the stars and the ocean of space, the capital market is no longer a privilege reserved for a few. Behind a subscription of just a few hundred dollars, there may be a sense of participation in a story—from Earth to Mars.

Look up to space, embrace the future. Starting with Gate’s “Direct IPO,” every ordinary person has the chance to hold a piece of the starry sky.

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