It was 07:25 am, 13 October 2024, at Starbase, near Boca Chica on the Texas side of the US/Mexico border. On the launch pad stood the biggest rocket ever made. Its engines fired and it climbed into the skies over the Gulf of Mexico to cheers and screams in the SpaceX control room. Seven minutes later, the massive rocket booster that 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', by engineers who have achieved something never done before.
But the launch was not the main event. What goes up must come down – and how it comes down became a milestone in space exploration. Amid the whoops and high-fives in SpaceX's control room, Elon Musk told his millions of social media followers that this is 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.
“SpaceX's stock market debut on 12 June could make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.”
Now, 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 or invited to own. UK retail investors are likely to be allocated around £1.5bn worth of shares, and one of the UK's leading investing platforms hopes this could encourage a new generation of investors.
Simon Belsham, Chief Client Officer at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'While we recognise this IPO might not be right for everyone, it's an exciting moment for many of our clients. We're expecting this might be a first foray into investing for many.' Even those who do not apply directly to buy shares – anyone with retirement savings invested in shares – will very likely soon be a part-owner of a company that sits at the crossroads between technology and geopolitics and, as Musk would have it, the very future of the human race.
A company with a futuristic vision, led by what some would call a maverick unconventional genius, SpaceX and Musk have drawn comparisons with Tony Stark, leader of Stark Industries and also known as Iron Man of the Marvel Comics Universe. 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.