SpaceX on Wednesday made public its IPO prospectus, disclosing a $2.6 billion operating loss on $18.7 billion in 2025 revenue and setting up what could be the largest stock-market debut in history. The Texas-based company said it will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker "SPCX" and that Chief Executive Elon Musk will retain majority voting power after the listing.

The filing puts a price on Musk's space, satellite and AI empire two days after a federal jury in Oakland, California, cleared a major legal overhang for rival Sam Altman's own IPO march at OpenAI. It also gives public investors their first detailed look at a company most recently valued by private markets at $1.25 trillion.

The numbers

SpaceX did not say how much it intends to raise, but earlier estimates have put the figure at up to $75 billion, which would eclipse the $25.6 billion Saudi Aramco took in during its 2019 listing, according to Renaissance Capital data cited by CBS News. Revenue in the first three months of 2026 reached nearly $4.7 billion, with most space-related sales coming from launches of the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon vehicles for commercial and government customers.

SpaceX also disclosed that it now owns xAI, Musk's artificial-intelligence company, and Starlink, his satellite-internet unit. The prospectus describes a potential market for the combined business of more than $28 trillion, including $370 billion for space ventures, $1.6 trillion for broadband, $26.5 trillion in AI services, nearly $23 trillion in enterprise technology and $600 billion in digital advertising.

The pitch

The AI angle is central. SpaceX told prospective investors that it intends to build orbital data centers atop its launch and satellite operations.

"We believe SpaceX's reusable rockets, scaled satellite manufacturing and operational expertise can enable the cost-effective and rapid deployment of massive AI compute satellite constellations with potentially millions of satellites for orbital data centers," the company said in the filing.

The prospectus also frames the IPO in the language Musk has used for two decades. "Our mission is to build the systems and technologies necessary to make life multiplanetary, to understand the true nature of the universe, and to extend the light of consciousness to the stars," SpaceX said.

On the Street

Goldman Sachs has the lead-left position on the offering, followed by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, sources told CNBC. Wedbush Securities said in a research note that Musk will remain chief executive, chief technology officer and chairman of the board, on top of his majority voting stake.

"Musk wants to own and control more of the AI ecosystem, and step by step, the holy grail could be combining SpaceX and Tesla in some way to give the connected tissue between both disruptive tech stalwarts looking to lead the AI revolution," Wedbush analysts wrote.

Wall Street analyst Adam Crisafulli was less impressed with the orbital data-center thesis, writing in a note to clients cited by CBS News: "The problem is that space-based data centers are far from guaranteed, and many consider them operationally and economically unfeasible, not only at the present time, but for (at least) the next several years."

The counterpoint

The dependence on Starlink that the IPO would lock in is already drawing pushback in Europe. Olivier Roussat, chief executive of French engineering and telecoms group Bouygues, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Thursday that the continent should not assume it can count on Musk's network, which now operates roughly 10,000 satellites.

Roussat told CNBC: "Europe doesnt realize exactly how dangerous it is to just rely on the American infrastructure." He said satellite internet and AI are the two areas where the bloc most needs its own capacity, adding that "Its not sure that we absolutely need to get a Starlink or something like this," and that Europe needs "to get some sovereignty."

SpaceX, based in Texas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, CBS News reported.

The company set no price range or date for the offering in Wednesday's filing. A separate OpenAI filing, which CNBC reported could come as soon as Friday, would put the two former co-founders on parallel tracks to the public markets.