SpaceX’s listing on 12 June drew investor attention worldwide, but Rocket Lab space exposure may offer a more measured route into commercial space for those put off by the IPO’s price tag.
SpaceX filed its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of the offering, priced at roughly 95 times sales. That reflects SpaceX’s dominant market position and a business that has yet to return a net profit. Figures cited by SpaceXStock from S-1 disclosures show the company generated approximately $18 billion in revenue in 2025, posted a net loss of approximately $5 billion, and spent roughly $21 billion in total capital expenditure across its three divisions.
Starlink Carries the Financial Weight
The clearest value engine within SpaceX is its connectivity division. The latest figures show the connectivity division generating $11.4 billion in revenue with operating income of $4.4 billion. The AI division reported $3.2 billion in revenue but posted an operating loss of $6.4 billion in the same period.
Estimates put Starlink at roughly half of SpaceX’s total revenue and its primary source of operating profit. The network spans thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit, with subscribers paying monthly fees for broadband and hardware terminals adding to the revenue base.
Quilty Space analysts, examining a Dutch financial statement filed by Starlink subsidiary Starlink Satellite Services Corp., found the entity reported revenue of $2.706 billion in 2024, up 93% from the prior year, with net income of $72.7 million. They estimate Starlink’s 2024 global consumer revenue at $4.9 billion; the subsidiary covers only a non-US, non-military portion of the network, with Europe listed as its largest market and North America fourth, the reverse of actual subscriber geography.
SpaceX’s forward plans, set out in its S-1 on SEC EDGAR, include commencing Starship payload delivery to orbit in 2026 and potentially deploying orbital AI compute satellites as early as 2028, alongside lunar-related and interplanetary activities.
Beyond Starlink, SpaceX generates revenue from launch services, with customers paying to send satellites and spacecraft into orbit. The company’s ability to recover and reuse rocket boosters has lowered its cost base, enabling competitive pricing while sustaining the investment programme.
Rocket Lab Space Exposure vs the SpaceX Valuation
For investors seeking the space theme without committing to a loss-making business priced at 95 times sales, Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) is the most direct listed comparator. The stock has risen 283% over the past year, reflecting broad market appetite for the sector.
Rocket Lab built its initial business around the Electron rocket for small-satellite launches and has since expanded into satellite manufacturing and broader space systems. Its planned Neutron rocket is designed to compete for larger payload missions, moving the company beyond the small-satellite niche.
The company guided for record revenue of $125 million to $135 million in Q4 2024 and reported twelve Electron launches year-to-date through Q3 2024, according to its Q3 2024 results announcement. Rocket Lab also disclosed a launch service agreement covering multiple Neutron launches with a confidential commercial satellite constellation customer. Its annual report for fiscal year ending 31 December 2024 sets out the full financial position.
The Mixed Case for SpaceX
SpaceX spent roughly $13 billion of its approximately $21 billion in 2025 capital expenditure on the AI division, with connectivity and Space each receiving roughly $4 billion, according to SpaceXStock’s summary of S-1 disclosures. That allocation makes SpaceX as much a capital-intensive AI infrastructure bet as a space operator.
For investors who came to the IPO seeking a clean space infrastructure play, the AI losses and the weight of AI-oriented capex complicate the thesis. SpaceX remains loss-making at the net level despite Starlink’s divisional profitability. The planned 2028 deployment of orbital AI compute assets could eventually reframe the numbers, but it remains years away.
Rocket Lab is narrower, smaller, and similarly pre-profit. Rocket failures carry real costs, and competition in small-launch is intensifying. But Rocket Lab space exposure comes without the layered divisional complexity of SpaceX, and the valuation entry point is considerably less demanding.
For those wanting Rocket Lab space exposure, Neutron’s development pace and Electron launch cadence through 2025 are the key metrics to watch as the company moves toward its next scale-up.
