June 8, 2026, 3:00 p.m. ET
SpaceX is preparing to enter the stock market and list its shares on the U.S.-based Nasdaq in what is shaping up to be potentially the largest initial public offering (IPO) in years, if not of all time. Look back on some groundbreaking moments and challenges from the company’s history.\nElon Musk, 31, poses against the front fairing of the SpaceX Falcon on April 11, 2003. SpaceX was founded in June 2002 intending to achieve the lowest cost per ride to orbit of any American launch vehicle.
DAN MACMEDAN, FOR USA TODAY
The Falcon 1 rocket built by SpaceX of El Segundo sits on the launch pad awaiting liftoff at the U.S. Military’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site on Omelek Island, near Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean’s Marshall Islands, Nov. 25, 2005. The Falcon 1 was the first rocket in history to be launched by a privately funded aerospace company created by Southern California businessman Elon Musk.
REUTERS
Assembly of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket at Space X’s headquarters in El Segundo, Calif. on Sept. 18, 2007.
Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY
Elon Musk stands in front of parts of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket at Space X’s headquarters in El Segundo, Calif. on Sept. 18, 2007.
Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY
The SpaceX Falcon 9 test rocket lifts off of pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on June 4, 2010 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The test flight laid the groundwork for the Falcon 9 to fly supply missions to the international space station in the future.
Matt Stroshane, Getty Images
With the Earth in the background, the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft is seen as it is grappled by the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm in this photo provided by NASA and taken May 25, 2012. Dragon became the first commercially developed space vehicle to be launched to the station to join Russian, European and Japanese resupply craft that service the complex while restoring a U.S. capability to deliver cargo to the orbital laboratory.
NASA, Via REUTERS
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveils the company’s new manned spacecraft, The Dragon V2, designed to carry astronauts into space during a news conference on May 29, 2014, in Hawthorne, Calif. The private spaceflight company has been flying unmanned capsules to the Space Station delivering cargo for the past two years. The Dragon V2 manned spacecraft will ferry up to seven astronauts to low-Earth orbit.
Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images
An unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket explodes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, June 28, 2015. The rocket exploded about two minutes after liftoff, destroying a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station, NASA said.
Mike Brown, REUTERS
In this handout provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket makes its first successful upright landing on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship on April 8, 2016 some 200 miles off shore in the Atlantic Ocean after launching from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
NASA, NASA Via Getty Images
Crowds pack the Canaveral National Seashore on May 27, 2016 to witness the liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the THAICOM-8 satellite aboard, from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Craig Rubadoux, FLORIDA TODAY
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 6, 2018 on its demonstration mission. The world’s most powerful rocket, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, blasted off on its highly anticipated maiden test flight, carrying CEO Elon Musk’s cherry red Tesla roadster to an orbit near Mars.
THOM BAUR, REUTERS
In this handout photo provided by SpaceX on Feb. 8, 2018, a Tesla roadster launched from the Falcon Heavy rocket with a dummy driver named “Starman” heads towards Mars.
Handout, SpaceX Via Getty Images
Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on a resupply mission to the International Space Station, launched at 5:42 a.m. June 29, 2018 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rocket’s exhaust plume was illuminated by the sun creating what is known as the twilight phenomenon.
MALCOLM DENEMARK, FLORIDA TODAY
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule sits in the hangar at Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, December 18, 2018. The capsule was scheduled to be test flown in 2019.
Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY
A prototype of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft is seen before SpaceX’s Elon Musk gives an update on the company’s Mars rocket Starship in Boca Chica, Texas. Sept. 28, 2019.
Callaghan O’Hare, REUTERS
NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken walk out to board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from NASA?s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., May 30, 2020.
Joe Skipper, REUTERS
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken lifts off during NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. May 30, 2020.
Thom Baur, REUTERS
The SpaceX Starship SN9 explodes into a fireball after its high altitude test flight from test facilities in Boca Chica, Texas,Feb. 2, 2021.
Gene Blevins, REUTERS
Inspiration4 mission commander Jared Isaacman, founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments, stands for a portrait in front of the recovered first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket at SpaceX on Feb. 2, 2021 in Hawthorne, Calif. Isaacman’s all-civilian Inspiration4 mission aimed to raise $200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through a donation based sweepstakes to select a member of the crew.
PATRICK T. FALLON, AFP Via Getty Images
The SpaceX Starship explodes after launch for a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20, 2023. The rocket successfully blasted off at 8:33 am Central Time. The Starship capsule had been scheduled to separate from the first-stage rocket booster three minutes into the flight but separation failed to occur and the rocket blew up.
PATRICK T. FALLON, AFP Via Getty Images
SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket is launched from the company’s Boca Chica launchpad on an uncrewed test flight, near Brownsville, Texas, Nov. 18, 2023.
JOE SKIPPER, REUTERS
Starship’s Super Heavy Booster is grappled at the launch pad in Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on Oct. 13, 2024, during the Starship Flight 5 test. SpaceX successfully “caught” the first-stage booster of its Starship megarocket as it returned to the launch pad after a test flight, a world first in the company’s quest for rapid reusability.
SERGIO FLORES, AFP Via Getty Images
SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its Super Heavy booster is launched on its ninth test at the company’s launch pad in Starbase, Texas, May 27, 2025.
Joe Skipper, REUTERS
The SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Booster creates sound waves as it lifts off on its 12th test flight from the SpaceX launch complex in Starbase, Texas, May 22, 2026.
Steve Nesius, REUTERS
