SpaceX is eyeing a $1.5 trillion valuation. That's good news for Google.

By William Gavin

The tech giant has been an investor in SpaceX since 2015, when it was worth a fraction of its potential value

SpaceX dominates the rocket-launch industry, and is set to send some 90% of the world's payload to orbit this year, according to CEO Elon Musk.

SpaceX, the rocket-launch company led by Elon Musk, is reportedly eyeing a public debut at a $1.5 trillion valuation. That's likely good news for two members of the so-called Magnificent Seven.

SpaceX is targeting an initial public offering for late 2026, although it could be pushed back to 2027 due to market concerns or other factors, Bloomberg News reported, and aims to raise more than $30 billion, some of which will be put toward space-based data centers.

SpaceX was most recently valued at about $400 billion and is expected to bring in revenue of about $15.5 billion this year, according to Musk. Much of its expected value comes down to the growth of SpaceX's satellite-internet business and progress on the Starship mega-rocket, although its sales fall far short of its potential peers.

Its potential $1.5 trillion valuation would make SpaceX roughly worth what Musk's Tesla (TSLA) is currently valued at, while the electric-vehicle maker is expected to report sales of $95.2 billion in 2025. Of the handful of companies worth more than $1 trillion, chip maker Broadcom (AVGO) is expected to generate the least revenue this calendar year, at $63 billion.

Google parent Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) has been an investor in SpaceX since January 2015, when it joined the financial services firm Fidelity to invest $1 billion in the company. SpaceX said at the time that the two firms would own 10% of the company, which was estimated to be worth at least $10 billion at the time.

Don Harrison, who is now Google's head of global partnerships, also joined SpaceX's board. At the time, Google told the New York Times that its investment was due to its interest in imaging satellites and other technologies.

Read more: Elon Musk suggests this underrated AI business could be a big driver of SpaceX's valuation

That investment appears to have paid off for Alphabet, which has held its stake in SpaceX for more than a decade. In its first-quarter earnings report, Alphabet said its profit included $8 billion in unrealized gains on non-marketable securities related to an investment in a private company.

That company was SpaceX, Bloomberg reported in April. A representative for Google did not immediately return a request for comment.

SpaceX's potential IPO could also be a boon for Tesla's retail investors, who collectively hold a significant amount of the electric vehicle-maker's stock.

Many investors in Tesla did so because they believe in Musk's vision for the future, which involves fleets of autonomous vehicles and legions of humanoid robots. That belief is part of why they overwhelmingly voted in favor of his recent pay package, and have showed interest in deepening the ties between Musk's companies.

At Tesla's recent annual meeting, investors voted on a proposal for Tesla to invest in Musk's xAI, which the board of directors is still weighing. One shareholder asked Musk about letting Tesla investors purchase stock in SpaceX.

"I do want to try to find out some way for Tesla shareholders to participate in SpaceX, that would be very cool," Musk replied, adding that he's given it "a lot of thought." However, he also noted what he considers as the downsides of being a public entity.

SpaceX is currently buying back stock from employees and certain insiders at a price of $420 per share through a tender offer, according to Bloomberg. Years ago, Musk tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private at that price, sparking regulatory investigations.

-William Gavin

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12-10-25 1624ET