At 07:25 am on 13 October 2024, at Starbase near Boca Chica on the Texas side of the US/Mexico border, the biggest rocket ever made climbed into the skies over the Gulf of Mexico. Cheers and screams erupted in the SpaceX control room. But the launch was not the main event. Seven minutes later, the massive rocket booster that had blasted the craft towards space started falling back to Earth – until its engines reignited as planned. It slowed its descent and guided itself with pinpoint precision so it could be captured by a clasp called Mechazilla, or "the chopsticks", achieving something never done before.
Amid the whoops and high-fives, Elon Musk told his millions of social media followers that this was a "big step towards making life multiplanetary" – a reusable rocket that will slash the costs of launching things into orbit, to the Moon and one day to Mars. The company, with its futuristic vision led by what some call a maverick unconventional genius, has drawn comparisons with Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man of the Marvel Comics Universe.
“SpaceX's rocket booster captured by 'Mechazilla' sets stage for IPO that could make Elon Musk the first trillionaire.”
Now, the main event shifts from the launchpad to the stock market. On 12 June, trading will begin in a chunk of shares in a company that, up to now, only Musk and a select group of rich private institutions have been able to own. UK retail investors are likely to be allocated around £1.5bn worth of shares. One of the UK's leading investing platforms, Hargreaves Lansdown, hopes this could encourage a new generation of investors.
"While we recognise this IPO might not be right for everyone, it's an exciting moment for many of our clients," said Simon Belsham, Chief Client Officer at Hargreaves Lansdown. "We're expecting this might be a first foray into investing for many."
More than one UK stockbroker has told the BBC there has been "a surge" in interest in signing up for the chance to buy shares. Even those who do not apply directly will likely soon be part-owners: if you have retirement savings invested in shares – as almost everyone with a pension plan does – you will soon hold a stake in a company at the crossroads between technology and geopolitics, and, as Musk would have it, the very future of the human race.
The chance for normal Earthlings to buy shares in SpaceX is one of the most important moments in the history of stock markets – and one that will almost certainly make Elon Musk the world's first ever trillionaire.