From bankruptcy to a billion: how SpaceX changed the global astronautics

In December 2025, Wall Street will deliver a groundbreaking announcement – SpaceX has achieved a valuation of $800 billion in its latest share sale round. Preparations for the 2026 IPO are accelerating, with management forecasting to raise over $30 billion. If the plans succeed, the total market capitalization could reach $1.5 trillion – a level comparable to Saudi Aramco in 2019. For the founder and CEO, a person who once had just $100 million in PayPal profits, this is the moment of transforming into humanity’s first trillionaire.

The Path from Madness to Innovation

SpaceX’s story dates back to 2001, when Musk was 30 years old and had over $100 million in cash. Instead of a quiet retreat – as his peers did – he made a business decision that everyone considered madness: he wanted to build rockets and conquer Mars. This vision led him to Russia, where he met specialists from the Lavochkin Design Bureau. The meeting was humiliating – Russian engineers openly mocked the idea, and one allegedly spat on the ambitious entrepreneur, suggesting he “get out if he can’t afford the deeds.”

The return by plane brought new hope. During the flight, Musk searched for a calculator and showed his companions a spreadsheet – it turned out that rocket technology was not black magic but an engineering problem. “We can build this ourselves” – these words sparked a revolution in space exploration.

When Every Attempt Ends in Explosion

2002 saw the official registration of SpaceX in an old warehouse in El Segundo near Los Angeles. The vision was ambitious – to become the “Southwest Airlines” of the space industry, providing cheap and reliable satellite transport services. Reality proved brutal. Building rockets consumes huge sums – industry insiders say you need at least a billion dollars to move even giants like Boeing or Lockheed Martin.

The first launches were a series of failures:

• 2006: Falcon 1 explodes after 25 seconds
• 2007: Second launch, second catastrophe
• 2008: Third attempt – the first and second stages collide over the Pacific

The atmosphere in the company grew increasingly tense. Engineers didn’t sleep, suppliers demanded money, and the media lost interest. In 2008 – the year of the financial crisis – Musk was cornered. Tesla was on the brink of bankruptcy, his wife left him, and SpaceX had funds only enough for one final attempt.

The experience of the entire situation was enriched by a deep personal wound. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan – Musk’s childhood idols – publicly questioned his projects. Armstrong said outright: “You don’t understand what you don’t know.” In an interview, Musk didn’t hide tears, recalling those words – he didn’t cry when rockets exploded, but he cried when his heroes let him down.

Breakthrough at Cape Canaveral

September 28, 2008 – a date that changed the entire trajectory of SpaceX. Falcon 1 will lift off, and this time it won’t explode. After 9 minutes, the engine shuts down as planned, and the payload enters orbit. The control center erupted with cheers – SpaceX became the first private company to successfully place a rocket into orbit.

A few days later, NASA announced: a contract worth $1.6 billion for 12 missions between Earth and the Space Station. Musk changed his computer password to “ilovenasa” – the era of renewed hope had begun.

When an Engineer Becomes a Reformer

The next breakthrough seemed technologically impossible – reusable rockets. The industry mocked the idea. But Musk went back to the basics of physics. If airplanes were sent to scrap after one flight, no one would fly. So rockets must return.

Reviewing cost spreadsheets, Musk discovered a staggering reality – traditional space suppliers inflated material prices by dozens of times. Carbon fiber costs $135 per kilogram; stainless steel, the same used for pots, costs $3. When engineers protested about weight, Musk pointed to melting temperatures – steel withstands 1400 degrees, and its strength increases at liquid oxygen temperatures. The result: a rocket made from “ordinary” steel weighs the same but costs 40 times less.

On December 21, 2015 – Falcon 9 returns to Earth and lands vertically in Florida. This moment definitively shattered the old rules of the industry. The era of cheap access to space had just begun.

Starlink: From Vision to Billions

SpaceX’s valuation skyrocketed from $1.3 billion in 2012 to $400 billion in July 2024. But behind this cosmic valuation stands not only technological progress – it’s Starlink.

A constellation of thousands of satellites in low orbit is transforming space from spectacle into infrastructure. No matter the location – a ship in the Pacific or war-torn territories – a receiver the size of a pizza box is enough to get a signal from hundreds of kilometers above Earth. It has become a money-making machine, providing a steady cash flow.

By November 2025, Starlink registered 7.65 million active subscriptions, with the actual number of users exceeding 24.5 million. North America accounts for 43% of subscriptions, while Korea and Asian countries are showing rapid growth. Financial analysis indicates that SpaceX’s revenue in 2025 could reach $15 billion, and in 2026 $22-24 billion, with over 80% coming from Starlink.

SpaceX is no longer a contractor – it’s a global telecommunications giant with a monopolistic advantage.

The Last Station Before Transformation

The largest IPO in history will not be a traditional “exit with profit.” Musk previously openly said: “going public is an invitation to suffering.” The change of mind is betrayed by the scale of ambition – within two years, the first Starship is expected to reach Mars uncrewed; in four years, humans will set foot on the surface. The ultimate goal: a city on Mars built from 1,000 Starship ships.

Hundreds of billions of dollars from the IPO are an “interplanetary toll” – as Musk himself described it. Revenue from the public offering is fuel, steel, and oxygen that pave the way to the final world. Musk’s story – from a man who almost lost everything in 2008 to a potential first trillionaire – shows that sometimes the greatest visions require the greatest risks.