SpaceX’s IPO filing is full of surprises

Space X’s IPO prospectus is a treasure trove. On some level, that’s expected: Elon Musk (the world’s richest person) and his businesses have long been their own landscape of lightning rods. But Space X has always especially captured imaginations. The company’s been around since 2002 and for decades has been revamping the once-impenetrable space economy. And the headlines have always been evocative: Reusable rockets! Colonies on Mars! Starlink everywhere! But Space X itself is also, let’s remember, a Frankensteined company in its own right: Rockets may be the headline, but SpaceX is also comprised of its massive Starlink business, the artist formerly known as Twitter, Musk’s AI outfit xAI, and perhaps eventually even AI coding mega-unicorn Cursor. Here’s what most stood out to me as I combed through the go-public filing the first time. Kardashev Type II civilization… This S-1 has a pretty legendary glossary of terms. Consider: Kardashev Type II, which “refers to a civilization that harnesses the full energy output of its local star, like our Sun, to power unprecedented growth and sustain the civilization’s existence.” Or: “lunar mass driver,” which is “a launch system that we intend to build on the Moon’s surface that will be designed to use electromagnetic acceleration to propel payloads into space without the use of rockets.” I’m not made of stone, and that’s cool. Twitter isn’t exactly crushing it… Apologies, X. The social media platform, which Musk dramatically acquired in 2022 for $44 billion, saw its advertising revenue decline by $595 million, as its revenue for 2024 dropped by 11.5%. The filing is clear: “The decrease in advertising revenue was due to the loss of advertising partners for X.” But, on the bright side, there was an increase in subscription revenue of $157 million. Cursor check… SpaceX’s prospective $60 billion acquisition of embattled AI coding juggernaut Cursor is not guaranteed, but clearly plays a key role in the story SpaceX is telling the publ