SpaceX wants investors to think far beyond rockets and Starlink satellites.
The rocket company's S-1 paperwork, a required step before an initial public offering, lays out a sweeping vision for billionaire Elon Musk's future space empire. Parts of the filing read more like a blueprint for an extraterrestrial economy that could one day include colonies on the moon and Mars, a booming space tourism industry, pharmaceutical manufacturing in Earth's orbit, and asteroid mining using autonomous robots.
The SpaceX IPO is expected to be one of the largest in US history and comes after the company announced its acquisition of xAI, Musk's AI startup, in February. Much of the filing covers SpaceX's finances, key shareholders, and business risks. It also offers a peek at Musk's most sci-fi ambitions for SpaceX.
SpaceX said in the filing that falling launch costs, better satellites, and expanded compute infrastructure could eventually unlock new markets. Much of the sci-fi-like technology SpaceX detailed is "unproven" or does not yet exist, and the company excluded them from its formal market estimates because their timing and scale are uncertain. Still, SpaceX said they could one day represent "multi-trillion-dollar economic opportunities."
Here's a look at the future markets SpaceX hopes to unlock:
Point-to-point travel on Earth
SpaceX said Starship could eventually move people or cargo between most major international destinations in under 30 minutes, and almost anywhere on Earth in less than an hour. The company said that the idea faces major technical, economic, and regulatory hurdles.
Space tourism
Fewer than 30 people visited Earth's orbit in 2025, SpaceX wrote in its filing. The company expects spaceflight to become more accessible over time. That could open a far larger market for private citizens to travel to orbit.
Passenger and cargo transport to the moon and Mars
SpaceX said reusable rockets and deep-space transportation could one day support regular passenger and cargo service to the moon and Mars.
Energy production on the moon and Mars
Potential future settlements on the moon and Mars would need reliable, large-scale energy to support habitats, manufacturing, and science operations. SpaceX pointed to solar power and other advanced energy systems as possible solutions.
Manufacturing on the moon and Mars
SpaceX said future planetary infrastructure could allow the manufacture of goods from materials found on the moon or Mars. That would reduce the need to launch everything from Earth.
In-orbit manufacturing
SpaceX said making products in microgravity could unlock advances in pharmaceuticals, advanced materials, and semiconductors. The company said space-based factories could also use abundant solar power for energy-intensive work.
Asteroid mining
Asteroids contain valuable resources such as platinum-group metals, rare-earth elements, nickel, cobalt, iron, and water. Advances in reusable rockets, robotics, and space processing could eventually make asteroid mining commercially viable, the company said.
