Ever wonder how to buy SpaceX stock? You’re not alone. The only problem is they are not a public company, but there may be a way around that!

What is SpaceX?

Space X is a private U.S space transportation services and aerospace manufacturing company. With its headquarters in Hawthrone, California, Space X was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk.

The ultimate goal of its formation was to reduce space transportation costs to colonize Mars. Space X has seen the development of the Dragon spacecraft family and the Falcon launch vehicle family. 

A brief history and achievements

In 2001, Mars Oasis, a project to grow plants on Mars and land a miniature experimental greenhouse was conceptualized by Elon Reeve Musk. Efforts to buy cheap rockets from Russia saw the birth of this company. In 2002, Musk teamed up with Tom Mueller, a rocket engineer to expand the business which was first set up in a warehouse in El Segundo, California.

Since then, the firm has grown its workforce as follows; 160 employees in 2005, 1,100 employees in 2010, 3,800 employees 2013, 5,000 employees in 2015, 6,000 employees in April 2017 and 7,000 employees in November 2017. As of March 2018, the corporation had over 100 launches representing approximately $12 billion in contract revenue.

The contracts included government and commercial customers. Its principal competitors in the commercial launch are International Launch Services, United Launch Alliance, and Arianespace. Currently, SpaceX is the market leader in the global retail launch provider as measured by manifested launches.

 (NASA/DOD) comsat

Its achievements are as follows;

• Falcon 1 flight 4, 2008- the first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit
• Falcon 1 flight 5, 2009- the pioneering privately established liquid-fueled rocket to place a commercial satellite in orbit
• Dragon capsule, 2010- the first private firm to successfully recover a spacecraft and launch orbit
• Dragon C2+, 2012- the leading private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station
• Falcon 9 flight 7, 2013- the first private company to send a satellite into geosynchronous orbit
• Falcon 9 flight 20, 2015- the first propulsive landing for an orbiting rocket
• Falcon 9 flight 23, 2016- the first landing on an ocean platform by an orbital rocket
• Falcon 9 flight 23, March 2017- the first reuse of an orbital rocket
• Dragon C106 on CRS-11, June 2017- the first refight of a commercial cargo spacecraft
• Tesla Roadster, 2018- the first private company to launch an object into orbit around the sun
• Falcon 9 flight 69, March 2019- the first private company to send a human spacecraft to space and independently dock a spacecraft to the International Space Station

Remarkably, under a partnership with NASA, Space X has flown 16 resupply missions to the International Space Station. In 2011, NASA also gifted Space X a development contract aimed at developing and demonstrating a human-rated Dragon.

Chances SpaceX will IPO

An IPO that involves SpaceX would make many people excited — no doubt. Some of Musk’s successful ventures, including Tesla and PayPal, have already gone public.

Despite the fact that Musk’s plan for Tesla elicits questions concerning the probability of a ‘SpaceX public offering,’ some traders told CNBC that they remain resolute that an IPO will take place even if it’s far-fetched. For other investors, the idea of SpaceX engaging in an IPO often crosses their minds. Such sentiments express the confidence that some people have with regards to that trade. They provide a rationale for it by stating that bankers would line up to champion the deal and the IPO would witness a case of oversubscription.

On the flip side, last year was quite busy for SpaceX, and with money streaming into its reserves, the demand to carry out an IPO to raise funds decreased. It continued to diminish even further, owing to the fact that SpaceX tapped into the debts markets.

Thought nugget: It is becoming less necessary for companies to go public to obtain significant funding.

Bottom Line: In previous statements, Musk has indicated that Space X will remain private, possibly until its Mars Colonial Transporter has made fruitful efforts to transport ‘passengers between Earth and Mars.’ The business guru perceives that an IPO can hinder the firm’s long-term objectives in relation to stakeholders’ expectations. In a nutshell, the company is not in any hurry to abandon private life.

SpaceX Stock Value

The company has encountered tremendous success, both technologically and financially. As compared to PayPal, SpaceX is more complex to value since it is a private firm. An August 2017 analysis of private financing stated the company was worth approximately $21.5 billion.

From the onset, SpaceX has raised more than $2 billion in funding. In addition, its booming coffers have generated significant growth in the firm’s stock price and evaluation, as shown below.

Even though investors cannot buy SpaceX stock, we can place a price tag on it. The CEO has a number of plans such as building an international satellite broadband network and securing humankind’s existence on Mars. Nonetheless, these strategies will incur costs for the execution and sustainability of the business.

In order to acquire that financing, SpaceX has been diligent in raising debt as well as equity funding for its trade. Coincidentally, each time SpaceX contacts its financiers for more funding, we get an inch closer to learn about the firm’s finances, business, and its valuation.

The Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX is selling new shares that are worth $500 million to its private investors at the cost of $186 per share. According to my knowledge, this is the first instance that SpaceX has ever divulged adequate information related to its capital structure that could underpin its share price, accurate share count, and market capitalization on its stock.

How to Buy SpaceX Stock

SpaceX is a privately owned company and only chosen investors own equity. This space exploration venture does not offer direct buy-in options for persons who wish to invest in it. In 2008, Founder’s Fund, a San Francisco venture capital firm invested $29,000,000, a move that has since benefited the investors’ team. 

In 2012, DFJ, another venture capital firm, committed $30,000,000 in exchange for a share of the SpaceX stock pie. In 2015, Fidelity and Google saw value in buying a stake in SpaceX. The two companies collectively signed a deal that pushed SpaceX value to $10 billion.

This funding was geared towards financing the emerging satellite business that SpaceX anticipated would develop a unique global communication system. This idea was to position a network of hundreds of satellites into orbit with the aim of connecting future inhabitants of Mars and everyone on earth to the web. Like the Founder’s Fund and DFJ, Fidelity is a privately owned corporation.

Therefore, anyone with interest in possessing SpaceX, albeit indirectly, can only do so through purchasing shares of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc. Because Google’s parent firm partly owns SpaceX, in theory, having a portion of Google stock is a way to indirectly grab a piece of SpaceX.