Forget SpaceX. These 2 Space Stocks Could Be the Real Winners Of the Coming IPO Frenzy

SpaceX is reportedly on track to price what would be the largest initial public offering on record in less than a month. Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company is reportedly targeting a Nasdaq debut around June 12 under the ticker SPCX, aiming to raise about $75 billion at a valuation near $1.75 trillion.

This sort of attention could be a boon for smaller, publicly traded space companies that have spent years building actual customers and contracts. In fact, the sector has already started to rerate higher in anticipation of the SpaceX listing, with several names extending gains over the past two months.

Investors who want exposure to the broader space economy, therefore, don't necessarily need to wait for SpaceX. Some public names have been producing the kind of underlying momentum that could carry them higher as the IPO frenzy turns more attention to the category.

Here's a closer look at two of them.

Image source: Getty Images

1. Rocket Lab

Up roughly 57% since SpaceX IPO speculation surfaced in late March, Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) has been the most direct publicly traded way to play the broader launch and satellite build-out. The end-to-end space company reported first-quarter revenue of $200.3 million in early May -- up 63.5% year over year and a clear acceleration from the 38% growth it produced for full-year 2025.

And demand is clearly surging. Rocket Lab's backlog more than doubled year over year to $2.2 billion, and the company signed 31 new Electron and HASTE launch contracts in the period -- more than it booked in all of 2025. That included a $190 million block order from the U.S. Department of War for 20 HASTE hypersonic test flights.

"The demand signal is clear," founder and CEO Peter Beck said during Rocket Lab's first-quarter earnings call.

Of course, investors have to pay up for that growth. With the stock near recent highs and a market capitalization of around $75 billion as of this writing, it's not easy to justify the valuation. The price-to-sales ratio sits well over 100 times sales.

Further, it's worth noting that Rocket Lab's medium-lift Neutron rocket -- a key piece of the bull case -- also has yet to fly.

2. AST SpaceMobile

If Rocket Lab is the launch story, AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) is the satellite-broadband bet. The company is building a space-based cellular network designed to connect directly to standard, unmodified smartphones.

First-quarter revenue was just $14.7 million, but management's 2026 guidance calls for $150 million to $200 million for the full year. That implies a roughly 147% year-over-year increase at the midpoint, compared with the $70.9 million in revenue AST SpaceMobile generated in 2025. The company also has more than $1.2 billion in aggregate contracted revenue commitments and ended the quarter with around $3.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash.

Further, in April, the Federal Communications Commission authorized commercial SpaceMobile service in the U.S. And during the first quarter, AST SpaceMobile reached peak data speeds of 98.9 Mbps from an in-orbit satellite to an unmodified smartphone over international waters.

Still, the business is in its infancy. CEO Abel Avellan even framed the company as "transitioning from R&D stage to fully scaled operational deployment"on the latest earnings call. Revenue today is small relative to a market capitalization above $30 billion, and the April loss of the BlueBird 7 satellite underscores that any launch setback could push the deployment timeline.

Worth small positions, not big ones

These are very different bets from each other (and from SpaceX for that matter). Rocket Lab is leveraged to launch cadence and the success of Neutron. And AST SpaceMobile's case hinges on rapid satellite deployment and turning regulatory wins into actual subscribers.

What they share is execution risk and valuations that have already absorbed considerable optimism. Even so, for investors who want exposure to the space economy as the SpaceX listing brings the category further into the mainstream, small positions across some of these names could make sense. Just be prepared for sharp swings in either direction -- and keep in mind that these are high-risk stocks, so treat these positions accordingly.

Daniel Sparks and his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.