Sky-high ambitions, big dreams in space, but also big losses. Next month, Elon Musk wants to take his space company SpaceX public. It promises to be one of the most remarkable IPOs ever.

Yesterday, documents were published that provide an insight into billionaire Musk’s space company. This so-called prospectus should help investors to assess whether it could be an interesting investment if the company were to go public.

It reads like a science fiction book. For example, Musk wants to launch the first AI data centers in space in two years. He also wants to develop artificial intelligence that should ultimately make it possible to build a base on the moon. He wants to mine raw materials on asteroids and realize passenger flights to Mars.

To achieve all this, SpaceX needs money. Musk wants to raise $75 billion, which would make it the largest IPO ever. If investors actually put this money into SpaceX, the company would have a stock market value of more than $2 trillion ($2,000,000,000,000). Musk would therefore immediately become the world’s first trillionaire.

“Investors can see this as the opportunity of a lifetime. It could be a success and then you don’t want to miss the boat,” says investment expert and stock market analyst Corné van Zeijl. But he also points out the other side of the coin. Because anyone who looks beyond the big dreams for the future mainly sees a company that is still making a lot of losses.

“If you look at the finances, it makes no sense at all,” says Van Zeijl. For example, SpaceX recorded a loss of almost $4.3 billion last quarter on a turnover of almost $4.7 billion. The company also recorded a significant loss of almost $5 billion throughout 2025. According to Van Zeijl, the sky-high ambitions are accompanied by great risks.

If SpaceX makes an IPO on the American tech stock exchange Nasdaq, it is quite possible that it will also be included in index funds. “Pension funds may also invest money in this. As soon as a company is in an index fund, things move very quickly,” says Van Zeijl. Because pension funds often follow index funds and if SpaceX is included in the future, there is a chance that Dutch pension money will also be invested in this company.

Apart from the financials, there are other matters in the prospectus that could deter investors. Musk will retain 85 percent of the voting rights even after the IPO and cannot be fired. The documents also state that Musk may lose interest in the company: “The loss or decline of involvement would have a negative impact on our business strategy.” According to Van Zeijl, it is clear that this management structure is risky for investors.

In addition, there are major doubts about the feasibility of all these big dreams. “Launching AI data centers into space is a very far-fetched plan. But Musk may surprise the world,” says Philippe Schoonejans of the Space Expo space museum.

This requires many large satellites and, according to Schoonejans, these can cause major problems on Earth. “The number of satellites increases the risk of a pile-up. Without working satellites, we are thrown back in time about twenty years. Back to when we were not yet dependent on mobile phones, the Internet or navigation.”

Schoonejans knows that the lion’s share of all satellites floating around the Earth is already in the hands of Musk.

He is even less hopeful about passenger flights to Mars. “That will certainly not happen in the next twenty years and certainly not with a return to Earth,” says Schoonejans. “Weightlessness causes muscle loss and osteoporosis. After such long flights, astronauts are normally lifted out of a rocket.” That won’t work on Mars.

Moreover, you need a lot of fuel to return to earth. “But you can’t refuel on Mars.”