SpaceX is preparing what could become one of the biggest public market debuts ever, with a prospectus revealing plans for a valuation as high as $1.75 trillion. The company is in discussions with banks about an IPO that could raise more than $25 billion, with some estimates pushing that figure north of $30 billion.

For context, that would put SpaceX in the same rarified air as Saudi Aramco’s 2019 IPO, which raised $29 billion at a $1.7 trillion valuation. That deal was, at the time, the largest in history. SpaceX appears to be aiming for a June or July 2026 launch window.

What the flotation looks like

The target valuation range spans from roughly $1 trillion on the conservative end to $1.75 trillion at the top. The company has reportedly been in conversation with multiple banks to structure the deal, with a sweet spot valuation landing around $1.5 trillion.

The prospectus also reveals Elon Musk’s plan to retain control of the company post-IPO. This is standard Musk playbook. Tesla uses a similar structure, and the approach has become increasingly common among founder-led tech companies going public.

The capital raised would funnel into SpaceX’s most ambitious projects, including Starship development, Mars colonization efforts, and what reports describe as space-based data centers. That last item is worth pausing on. The idea of orbital computing infrastructure sounds like science fiction, but SpaceX’s track record of turning outlandish concepts into operational businesses makes it harder to dismiss.

The engine driving this valuation isn’t rockets, though. It’s Starlink.

Starlink is the real story

SpaceX’s satellite broadband service has quietly become one of the most valuable internet infrastructure plays on the planet. While the company’s launch business gets the headlines, Starlink generates recurring revenue at scale, the kind of predictable cash flow that public market investors love.

The satellite constellation now serves millions of users across dozens of countries, providing broadband in areas where traditional fiber and cable infrastructure either can’t or won’t reach. It’s the revenue from Starlink that makes a $1.5 trillion valuation plausible rather than aspirational.

Here’s the thing. Without Starlink, SpaceX is a rocket company with impressive technology but lumpy, contract-dependent revenue. With Starlink, it’s a vertically integrated telecommunications and aerospace conglomerate. That distinction matters enormously when you’re trying to convince institutional investors to write nine-figure checks.

Why crypto investors should pay attention

Look, SpaceX isn’t a crypto company. But an IPO of this magnitude has ripple effects across the entire risk-asset ecosystem, and the crypto market sits squarely in that category.

First, there’s the liquidity question. A $25 billion to $30 billion capital raise pulls enormous amounts of institutional money into a single asset. When Saudi Aramco went public, it created a temporary vacuum in global capital markets as funds reallocated to participate. A SpaceX IPO would likely trigger similar portfolio rebalancing among the very same institutional investors who have been increasing their crypto allocations over the past two years.

Second, the valuation itself sets a benchmark. If public markets are willing to price SpaceX at $1.5 trillion or higher based partly on speculative future revenue from Mars colonization and orbital data centers, it implicitly validates the kind of long-horizon, high-conviction bets that define much of the crypto venture landscape. A market that prices in interplanetary commerce is a market that’s comfortable pricing in decentralized finance.

Third, the space-based data center angle has direct implications for decentralized infrastructure. Projects building decentralized physical infrastructure networks, often called DePIN in crypto circles, are working on problems adjacent to what SpaceX is describing. If SpaceX validates the concept of orbital computing at scale, it could accelerate interest and capital flows into decentralized alternatives.

Then there’s the Musk factor. Love him or not, Musk’s financial moves create volatility across correlated assets. His companies’ stock performance, his social media activity, and his capital allocation decisions all have documented effects on crypto markets, particularly on assets he’s publicly engaged with in the past.

The timing also matters. A June or July 2026 IPO would land roughly a year after Bitcoin’s most recent halving, historically a period of strong crypto market performance. If SpaceX goes public during a risk-on environment, the rising-tide effect could benefit digital assets. If it lands during a downturn, the capital siphoning effect could work in the opposite direction.

Investors watching the crypto market should track SpaceX’s IPO timeline closely. Not because SpaceX will tokenize anything or build on a blockchain, but because a deal this size reshapes the gravitational pull of global capital markets. And right now, crypto is close enough to that gravity well to feel every tremor.