SpaceX has unveiled ambitious plans to establish a self-sustaining colony of at least one million people on Mars, as detailed in its updated initial public offering (IPO) filing on Wednesday. The filing, which sets a share price of $135 (£100), values the private space firm at approximately $1.75 trillion and could make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.
The IPO document states that Musk will achieve trillionaire status based on milestones including the 'establishment of a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants'. SpaceX's mission, as outlined in the filing, is 'to build the systems and technologies necessary to make life multiplanetary'. The company argues that colonising Mars ensures 'species-level redundancy' against planetary hazards.
Central to this vision is SpaceX's Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful ever built, designed to carry crew and cargo across the Solar System. However, Starship's reliability remains unproven. The US Federal Aviation Administration recently grounded further test flights after a mishap on 22 May, when the Super Heavy booster crashed into the Gulf of Mexico due to engine failure during a splashdown procedure.
SpaceX has a multi-billion dollar contract with NASA to use Starship for the Artemis program, aiming to return humans to the Moon by 2028—a date already delayed from 2024. Further delays are possible given recent testing setbacks. Trading on the Nasdaq is expected to begin on 12 June, with the IPO poised to be the largest public sale in history.
