SpaceX · Elon Musk · NPR Technology
A trillion dollar question: Will SpaceX's Starship launch go well?
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SpaceX's latest version of it's mega rocket Starship goes through testing as it is prepared for a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Wednesday, May 20, 2026.
Key facts
- Many analysts expect SpaceX to raise up to $75 billion, and to be valued at up to $1.5 trillion
- In the first quarter of 2026, it spent another $930 million on Starship development
- The development is eating up the profits from its launch business, which operated at a $662 million loss in the first quarter of this year
- SpaceX's latest version of it's mega rocket Starship goes through testing as it is prepared for a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Summary
As SpaceX prepares for its public offering, it's undergoing a critical test of the largest rocket ever built. On Friday, the company is set to conduct a launch of a heavily redesigned version of its Starship rocket after scrubbing a planned launch at the last minute on Thursday. The launch comes a little under a month before investors expect SpaceX's much-anticipated initial public offering. The launch is "super important for the IPO," said Franco Granda, a senior researcher who covers SpaceX for the data firm, PitchBook.