SpaceX Files for IPO, Revealing Starlink Profits, xAI Losses and a Super‑Voting Plan to Keep Musk in Control

SpaceX publicly filed for an initial public offering on Wednesday, opening its books in a public-market document for the first time and showing a business with fast-growing revenue, strong profits at Starlink, deep losses elsewhere and a governance structure that will keep Elon Musk and other insiders firmly in control.

According to Associated Press reporting based on the prospectus, the filing for Space Exploration Technologies Corp. showed about $18.7 billion in revenue for 2025 and an operating loss of about $2.6 billion for the year. The document also laid out a super-voting share structure that would allow Musk and certain insiders to elect a majority of the board after the company goes public.

That makes the filing significant well beyond a typical IPO step. SpaceX has long been one of the most closely watched private companies in aerospace and technology, but until now public investors had not had a prospectus-level view of its finances, business mix or corporate governance.

The numbers in the filing show how central Starlink has become to the company. The satellite broadband unit generated $4.4 billion in operating income last year, according to AP’s summary of the prospectus, making it the main profit engine inside a company that was still operating at a loss overall.

The prospectus said Starlink operates about 10,000 satellites and has about 10 million subscribers across roughly 150 countries and territories, AP reported. Those figures offer the clearest public snapshot yet of the scale SpaceX has built in consumer and business internet service from low-orbit satellites.

The filing also highlighted the drag from the company’s artificial intelligence business, identified in the prospectus as xAI. That business posted an operating loss of $6.4 billion last year, according to AP’s account of the filing.

Taken together, the figures point to a company with a profitable connectivity business helping support broader operations that remain deeply in the red. The prospectus, as quoted by the AP, framed SpaceX’s mission in sweeping terms: “We do not want humans to have the same fate as dinosaurs.”

The filing also made clear that outside shareholders will have limited power. Under the proposed share structure, Musk and certain insiders will hold a class of stock with 10 votes per share, AP reported. That structure will let them retain control and elect a majority of the board.

The prospectus warned investors directly that the arrangement “will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters and the election of our directors,” according to the AP’s quotation from the filing.

That governance model had already drawn criticism before the public filing appeared. On May 14, the New York City comptroller, the New York state comptroller and the chief executive of CalPERS, the large California public pension fund, sent a letter raising concerns about the proposed structure ahead of the IPO.

The prospectus also underscored how much SpaceX depends on the U.S. government as a customer. About one-fifth of the company’s revenue last year came from the federal government, according to AP’s account of the filing. AP also reported that SpaceX disclosed roughly $6 billion in NASA and Defense Department contracts over the past five years, citing public contracting data summarized in the coverage.

That level of federal exposure means the company’s financial condition and governance are likely to draw scrutiny beyond the usual technology IPO audience. SpaceX is not only a commercial launch and satellite company; it is also a major government contractor.

The public filing starts the formal countdown to the next phase of the offering. Under Securities and Exchange Commission timing rules, the company can begin an investor roadshow 15 calendar days after the prospectus became public. AP reported that the earliest date would be June 4.

The filing follows earlier reporting that SpaceX had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on April 1, a common first step that lets a company begin the IPO process out of public view. Wednesday’s prospectus turns that confidential process into a public one, giving investors their first detailed look at how SpaceX makes money, where it loses it and how much control public shareholders are being asked to give up.