SpaceX raised about $86 billion in its June 12-15 IPO, valuing the company at roughly $2.4 to $2.5 trillion, marking a record debut for the aerospace firm [1, 2, 3, 4]. Days after the IPO, SpaceX will start investor calls the week of June 22 for a planned bond issuance of at least $20 billion [5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7].
The bond sale aims to refinance a $20 billion bridge loan SpaceX took in March 2026 to fund the acquisition and merger of Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI with social media platform X [5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7]. That bridge loan makes up most of SpaceX’s $29.1 billion long-term debt as of March 31, 2026 [5, 4].
The bond is expected to be rated investment grade, with Moody’s assigning Baa1, Fitch BBB+, and S&P BBB ratings [5, 1, 2, 3, 4]. Yields on the 10-year bonds could come 1.35 to 1.5 percentage points above U.S. Treasuries, depending on market conditions [1, 2, 3]. This would be SpaceX’s first issuance of investment grade US dollar bonds [6, 4].
The financing banks behind the bridge loan—Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley—are also expected to manage the bond deal [5, 6, 4]. CreditSight analyst Matt Woodruff said, "They need to build a good track record in the bond market as soon as possible because they will need funds for capital expenditure" [5].
SpaceX reported a net loss of $4.28 billion on $4.69 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2026, widening from a $528 million loss on roughly $4 billion a year earlier [5]. The company’s AI business is projected to require tens of billions in capital spending, with revenue expected to rise significantly by 2030 despite current losses [8, 1, 2, 3].
Elon Musk compared the company's long-term growth potential to historic infrastructure projects, saying, "We’re kind of like the Union Pacific. People thought they were crazy, but now California is the biggest state in the country" [8].
The bond offering will refinance the bridge loan due in September 2027 and marks the next major financing step shortly after SpaceX’s IPO.
