This Could Be Your Last Chance to Buy Into SpaceX Before the 2026 IPO

In 2026, SpaceX plans to hold the mother of all IPOs, a $1.5 trillion initial public offering of stock that would instantly make SpaceX the most valuable space company on the planet -- and turn Elon Musk into the world's first trillionaire.

Musk founding the trillionaire club wouldn't be surprising -- the man who popularized electric cars, who's building a business to store renewable energy in battery farms, who pioneered the world's first reusable rocket, and who hopes to one day colonize Mars. His aspirations have always been lofty, and his ambitions enormous.

But is it too much to ask that the rest of us might make a bit of money from this IPO, too?

It turns out there may still be time.

Image source: Getty Images.

How much is SpaceX worth?

Last month, I did a deep dive into the valuation of SpaceX stock and how much participating in the SpaceX IPO might cost. TL;DR: The numbers do not look good.

SpaceX generated at least $15 billion in revenue in 2025. It's expected to grow that number to $22 billion or even $24 billion this year -- nearly 50% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. And yet, at a $1.5 trillion IPO price, that would still work out to an eye-popping price-to-sales valuation of somewhere between 62 and 68 times sales on SpaceX stock.

When investing in space stocks, I prefer to pay no more than 4 times sales. And this got me to thinking: Is there any way to invest in SpaceX stock before the IPO, to get a piece of Musk's space company at a less extreme valuation?

How to buy SpaceX on the (relatively) cheap

Turns out, there actually are a few possibilities. If you are age 18 or older, with at least $200,000 in annual income ($300,000 for a married couple) and/or $1 million in net worth (not counting your house, sorry), you may be able to invest in SpaceX stock on the secondary market via one of several companies that cater to accredited investors.

These companies -- Hiive, EquityZen, and Forge Global (NYSE: FRGE) -- facilitate private investment in shares on the secondary market -- for example, when employees who have exercised stock options want to sell their shares before their company goes public. It's legit: Forge is in the process of being acquired by Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW). That deal could make buying shares in SpaceX even easier if it closes before the SpaceX IPO.

A word of warning: Often, these kinds of companies buy shares via intermediaries. Try to buy "SpaceX stock" through them, and you may actually end up owning shares of an entirely different company that itself owns shares of SpaceX. You'll still own a piece of the space company -- but only indirectly.

Invest with Cathie Wood

Buying into Cathie Wood's Ark Venture Fund (NASDAQMUTFUND: ARKVX) offers a similar route to SpaceX. Formed as a publicly traded venture capital fund, Ark Venture holds shares in multiple pre-IPO high-tech companies -- not just SpaceX.

Buy shares of Ark Venture, and abracadabra, you'll also own a piece of SpaceX.

You'll also own pieces of about four dozen other interesting names, from artificial intelligence companies Perplexity and xAI to supersonic jet start-up Boom Supersonic to prediction market pioneer Kalshi. If you're only really interested in SpaceX, you may consider this either a plus or a minus.

Google owns a piece, too

Don't want to buy into 50 separate companies, when SpaceX is all you're really interested in? A more focused, if still indirect, way to invest in SpaceX before the IPO would be to buy shares of Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL).

Way back in 2015, if you recall, Google became one of the first high-profile investors to invest in SpaceX, buying a 7.5% stake back when SpaceX was only worth about $10 billion. To the best of our knowledge, Google never sold its stake -- which, at a $1.5 trillion valuation, would be worth more than $112 billion today. It's a small slice of Alphabet stock, which currently sports a $4 trillion market capitalization -- but it's still 7.5% of SpaceX.

And it can be yours for the low, low price of just $330 and change (at Alphabet's closing share price Friday).

Charles Schwab is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool recommends Charles Schwab and recommends the following options: short March 2026 $100 calls on Charles Schwab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.