Is SpaceX worth $3 trillion? Musk's big IPO explained

The space exploration company controlled by Tesla founder Elon Musk is planning a mega-float in the coming months. Here are the key questions.

In the seven and a half years since Apple's market capitalisation broke through the $US1 trillion mark, investors have become accustomed to seeing big tech companies command 13-digit valuations in public markets.

There are more on the way. SpaceX, the space exploration company controlled by Tesla founder and the world's richest man, Elon Musk, has signalled it is planning a mega initial public offering in the coming months. Artificial intelligence rivals OpenAI and Anthropic might also go public this year, and their private valuations have already soared into the hundreds of billions of dollars.