SpaceX Launches 24 Starlink Satellites as Company Prepares for IPO
SpaceX launched 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 11, 2026, the same week the company is set to debut on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX. The IPO, priced at $135 per share for a total raise of approximately $75 billion, has attracted over $100 billion in retail orders alone and is poised to become the largest public offering in history, surpassing Saudi Aramco's $29.4 billion debut in 2019. The listing, which values SpaceX at around $1.8 trillion, could reshape public markets and set the stage for further mega-IPOs from AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 11:05 a.m. EDT on June 11, 2026, successfully deploying 24 Starlink satellites (Group 17-44) approximately one hour later. The launch was the company's 67th Falcon 9 mission of the year and its 660th completed mission since 2008, bringing the total Starlink megaconstellation to more than 10,600 satellites. The booster used, B1071, completed its 34th flight and landed on the droneship 'Of Course I Still Love You' in the Pacific Ocean, one flight short of tying the reuse record. The launch occurred days before SpaceX's highly anticipated IPO, with shares set to begin trading Friday on Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas under the symbol SPCX at $135 per share, raising roughly $75 billion at a valuation of approximately $1.8 trillion. Retail investors submitted more than $100 billion in orders — far exceeding the roughly 20% of available shares expected to be allocated to them — while around 1,000 institutional investors also participated, including sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, several of which received allocations exceeding $1 billion. The offering is led by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase, with 18 additional banks participating. The SpaceX IPO is expected to catalyze further large listings, with OpenAI and Anthropic both having recently filed confidentially, potentially adding a combined $3.6 trillion in market value to U.S. exchanges.
What's missing
Details on lock-up periods and whether Elon Musk is selling any personal shares have not been reported in either source.
How coverage differed
Space.com focused primarily on the technical details of the Starlink launch and framed the IPO as incidental context, while Moneycontrol.com centered its coverage on the financial scale and investor demand of the IPO, treating the satellite launch as background.
What different sources said
- Moneycontrol.comCenter
SpaceX IPO draws more than $100 billion in retail orders
- Space.comCenter
SpaceX sends 24 Starlink satellites into orbit as market awaits IPO launch (video)
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