--- title: "From the key test flight of Starship V3 to the trillion-dollar IPO blueprint! A series of hardcore actions by SpaceX ignites a frenzy of investment in commercial space" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/286767212.md" description: "SpaceX is about to conduct a critical test flight of the third-generation Starship V3, which is expected to trigger a wave of investment in commercial space. Its potential IPO has become a valuation anchor for the industry, driving up space stocks such as Rocket Lab and Intuitive Machines. This test flight is not only a technical test but will also validate SpaceX's capabilities in reducing launch costs and expanding the Starlink network" datetime: "2026-05-18T11:47:24.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/286767212.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286767212.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/286767212.md) --- # From the key test flight of Starship V3 to the trillion-dollar IPO blueprint! A series of hardcore actions by SpaceX ignites a frenzy of investment in commercial space According to the Zhitong Finance APP, for the upcoming IPO of the global space exploration leader SpaceX, the critical test flight of the new third-generation Starship (Starship V3) scheduled for Tuesday afternoon Eastern Time has triggered a frenzy in space stocks, as well as an unprecedented IPO event that has ignited a "commercial space investment boom" sweeping the global stock market. This indicates that the global capital market is preemptively valuing this "commercial space super leader's public trading" and generating bullish sentiment. **The critical test flight of Starship V3 is not just a technical test, but an engineering validation of the "fully reusable heavy-lift launch system": the hundred-ton near-Earth orbit capacity, the next-generation Starlink mass deployment, the reuse of thermal protection systems, orbital propellant transfer, and the NASA Artemis lunar architecture are all core pillars of SpaceX's future commercial valuation.** If the V3 flight data is successful, it will further prove SpaceX's ability to continue lowering launch cost curves, accelerating the expansion of the Starlink network, and commercializing lunar/deep space transportation. **The two core missions of Starship Flight 12 on Tuesday Eastern Time can be summarized as "validating the upgraded V3 Starship/Super Heavy rocket hardware" and "validating the next-generation Starlink V3 satellite deployment capability." Among them, the upgraded V3 is the underlying mainline of the entire flight, as this is the first actual flight of the new generation Starship and Super Heavy, involving comprehensive validation of the booster, upper stage, Raptor engines, thermal separation/inter-stage structure, propulsion system, control system, and new launch pad.** From the perspective of the capital market, SpaceX's potential IPO is becoming the "super valuation anchor" of the commercial space sector. **Space stocks like Rocket Lab and Intuitive Machines have recently surged, essentially indicating that funds are preemptively seeking alternative exposure before SpaceX's IPO. The so-called "commercial space boom" is not merely speculative hype, but is supported by reusable rockets, low-orbit satellite internet, space AI data center construction, government space contracts, lunar economy, defense space initiatives, and commercial launch demand.** However, it should also be emphasized that the sentiment before the IPO may continue to rise, while after the listing, it will enter a fundamental verification phase: those who possess real launch capabilities, backlog of orders, cost advantages, and cash flow pathways will be the ones qualified to take on this round of the space bull market. Elon Musk's space exploration company SpaceX is accelerating its IPO process. According to informed sources, the company is expected to officially disclose its prospectus this week in preparation for an \*\*initial public offering (IPO) that is anticipated to set a historical record. Media reports citing insiders indicate that SpaceX plans to raise approximately $70 billion to $75 billion, which would exceed the global largest IPO record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019 by more than double, with an overall valuation expected to reach $2 trillion \*\* As the richest person in the world to date, Musk has accomplished what others deemed impossible—building a commercially viable high-frequency rocket launch business through SpaceX, bringing electric vehicles into the mainstream market with global electric vehicle leader Tesla Inc., and providing internet connectivity infrastructure services from space through Starlink. However, some investors are skeptical about whether Musk can truly realize his "most epic" chip-making initiative outlined in Austin and whether he can achieve his envisioned "artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, humanoid robots, and space AI data center super blueprint." **Countdown to SpaceX's upgraded giant Starship high-risk test flight! Musk's commercial space empire faces a critical battle** SpaceX is preparing for the next major test of its Starship launch system, aiming to launch from the company's Starbase facility in southern Texas on Tuesday evening. This globally watched commercial space mission, named "Starship Flight 12," is scheduled to launch within the window that opens at 6:30 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, May 19. However, as with all developer missions, the launch time still depends on aerospace technology checks and weather conditions, meaning delays may occur. The launch will be live-streamed approximately 30 minutes before liftoff on SpaceX.com, YouTube, and X platform (formerly Twitter). **This flight will be the first launch of the significantly upgraded versions of the Starship upper stage (a technical term referring to the second stage of the Starship system) and the Super Heavy booster. Meanwhile, as SpaceX faces increasing pressure to prove that its hardware can be used for NASA's Artemis lunar ambitions, the importance of this test has further escalated.** Tuesday's mission will showcase the redesigned versions of the two components of the launch vehicle—the Starship upper stage and the Super Heavy booster. The latter will be equipped with the latest evolved version of the Raptor engine, with all 33 engines expected to ignite during the ascent phase. **Unlike some recent test flights of the Starship, Tuesday's flight will not attempt to use the large mechanical arm commonly referred to as "chopsticks" to return the Super Heavy booster to the launch tower. Instead, SpaceX plans to have the booster perform a controlled landing at sea in the Gulf of Mexico.** Once in space, the Starship upper stage is expected to deploy 22 Starlink simulators, which are roughly the size and shape of SpaceX's next-generation Starlink, the next-generation Starship satellite. Two of the simulators will conduct imaging operations focused on the Starship's heat shield and will send data and photos back to the mission control center. Several heat shield tiles on the spacecraft have been intentionally painted white to simulate damage and create visual targets for inspection. Engineers have also deliberately removed one heat protection tile entirely to study how adjacent tiles respond to aerodynamic forces during re-entry **Starship remains the core of SpaceX's long-term deep space exploration plan. This fully reusable system is designed to carry over 100 tons of cargo and ultimately transport crew to the Moon and Mars. However, SpaceX is now under pressure to test Starship, especially its Starship Human Landing System (HLS) — a modified version that the company is building for NASA's Artemis program.** On March 3, NASA announced an adjustment to the Artemis program. The Artemis 3 lunar super mission (scheduled for launch in mid-2027) has now been reclassified as a test mission, during which its Orion spacecraft will dock with commercial lunar landers in low Earth orbit, including SpaceX's Starship HLS and Blue Moon launched by Blue Origin, founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos. **The original plan was for Starship to refuel in Earth orbit — which would require an additional 15 Starship flights — and then enter lunar orbit to rendezvous with the NASA crew aboard Orion. Now, this has turned into a significant space race between SpaceX and Blue Origin, as NASA intends to test a future lander that is ready to support the Artemis 3 crew.** NASA previously announced on May 4 that Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lunar lander has completed testing in the thermal vacuum chamber A at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. **"The Musk faith" sweeps the globe! SpaceX's super IPO feast ignites a frenzy of investment in commercial space.** This is not just "another Starship test flight" for SpaceX, but a triple validation of technology, business, and capital markets using Starship V3 on the eve of its IPO. **From an engineering perspective, V3 is a generational upgrade of the Starship system: higher thrust, greater low Earth orbit capacity, stronger rapid reuse design, more complex thermal protection validation, and system redundancy capabilities for future orbital refueling and deep space missions.** This Flight 12 will be the first launch of the significantly upgraded Starship upper stage and Super Heavy booster, with 33 Raptor engines expected to ignite during the ascent phase. The booster will not attempt a "chopstick" recovery but will instead make a controlled splashdown at sea; the upper spacecraft will perform a flight lasting about an hour before splashing down in the Indian Ocean. Space.com confirms that this is the first flight of Starship V3 The most commercially valuable aspect of this test flight is the deployment of 22 Starlink simulators and the on-orbit inspection of the thermal protection system. Among them, 20 standard simulators are used to verify the mass deployment capability of the next-generation Starlink satellites, while the other 2 modified payloads will be used to capture images of the Starship's heat shield and transmit them back; at the same time, SpaceX intentionally painted some thermal tiles white and removed a thermal protection tile to test re-entry aerodynamics and thermal protection redundancy. **For the capital market, this directly corresponds to two valuation main lines: first, whether Starship can become a low-cost transportation platform for the ultra-large-scale deployment of Starlink V3; second, whether the reusable thermal protection system can support a long-term cost revolution of "full reusability." If the V3 flight data is good, the market will be more willing to believe that SpaceX is not just a single rocket company, but a comprehensive commercial space infrastructure company "focused on a super launch platform for space AI data centers + Starlink network + lunar landers + deep space super transportation."** Flight 12 is in an extremely sensitive window: SpaceX is reported to be advancing a historic IPO, with some market news suggesting its potential valuation could reach between $1.75 trillion and $2 trillion, with financing scales possibly reaching hundreds of billions of dollars; at the same time, commercial space concept stocks like Rocket Lab and Intuitive Machines have surged significantly under the expectations of SpaceX's IPO, NASA/Space Force contracts, and short squeeze structures. According to media reports, **SpaceX has recently conducted a 5-for-1 stock split, and the IPO could become one of the most important events in the global capital market. Therefore, the success or failure of the Starship V3 maiden flight will directly affect investors' judgments on SpaceX's technological moat, Starlink's growth curve, Artemis's compliance capabilities, and the valuation anchors of the entire commercial space sector. In other words, this is not an ordinary test flight, but a "series of hardcore muscle displays" on the eve of the IPO.** As the biggest bottleneck for global AI data centers shifts from "AI chips" to "power systems and deployment," **the narrative system of SpaceX, which envisions "sending data centers into space orbit and powering them with solar energy," is entering an engineering trial-and-error phase. The capital market urgently needs a larger, more stable capital pool and more unified organizational boundaries. In Musk's AI computing power infrastructure plan, as the AI boom begins to face increasingly large-scale infrastructure and energy supply bottlenecks, the next major leap in artificial intelligence may not occur on land, but in space.** SpaceX plans to launch an astonishing 1 million satellites, which will serve as a distributed space-level cloud computing super server system. These orbital data centers in space are reportedly expected to use solar energy to handle astronomical levels of artificial intelligence workloads Musk believes that to achieve this goal, there is an urgent need to build a super satellite factory on the Moon in the future, realizing AI super satellites with lunar electromagnetic catapults. Undoubtedly, his Hollywood sci-fi-like visionary ideas will require a substantial amount of cash— and the potential SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) is precisely where the massive funding source lies ### Related Stocks - [RKLB.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/RKLB.US.md) - [LUNR.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/LUNR.US.md) - [SpaceX.NA](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SpaceX.NA.md) - [ARKX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ARKX.US.md) - [RKLX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/RKLX.US.md) - [ROKT.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ROKT.US.md) - [XAR.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/XAR.US.md) - [ITA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ITA.US.md) - [PPA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/PPA.US.md) - [UFO.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/UFO.US.md) - [NASA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NASA.US.md) - [DXYZ.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/DXYZ.US.md) - [ASTS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ASTS.US.md) - [ASTX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ASTX.US.md) - [TSLA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLA.US.md) - [LUNRW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/LUNRW.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Dear Future SpaceX (SPCX) Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for June 12](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286809659.md) - [Elon Musk Wants To Build 'Most Advanced' Spaceports Across The US And World As Starship Aims For Thousands Of Flights Each Year](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286214156.md) - [SpaceX eyes global spaceports as Starship launch ambitions grow ahead of IPO](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286160694.md) - [Rocket Lab lands record contract, stock hits all-time high](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286053091.md) - [SUSTAINABLE FINANCE NEWSLETTER-The SpaceX IPO and the lost battle for shareholder rights: Ross Kerber](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286246901.md)