Stratechery: SpaceX IPO Filing Reveals Orbital Data Center Plans for 2028 and $1.7 Trillion Valuation

Stratechery·medium signal

Ben Thompson analyzes SpaceX's IPO filing — potentially the largest in Wall Street history — noting that no traditional financial model justifies the valuation, but orbital data centers make it plausible. SpaceX plans to deploy space-based data centers as early as 2028 and is seeking FCC approval for up to 1 million satellites. Starlink generated $11.39B revenue (61% of total) with 10.3M subscribers, and Musk receives additional shares if orbital data centers and a Mars colony are achieved.