Elon Musk's SpaceX has placed its mission to colonise Mars at the heart of its record-setting plans to go public, aiming to establish a self-sustaining colony of at least one million inhabitants on the Red Planet. In an unusual opening statement for its updated initial public offering (IPO) filing, shared on Wednesday, SpaceX said its mission is 'to build the systems and technologies necessary to make life multiplanetary'.
The IPO filing includes a suggested share price of $135 (£100), which would make it the largest public sale in history. The filing values the private space firm at around $1.75 trillion, with the IPO set to make Musk the world's first trillionaire. Trading on the Nasdaq stock index is expected to begin on 12 June.
Musk will achieve trillionaire status depending on SpaceX's achievement of certain milestones, according to the filing, which includes the 'establishment of a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants'. The filing stated: 'By moving beyond the only home we have ever known, we ensure species-level redundancy and that the light of consciousness will not be tied to a single planet subject to the inevitable hazards of a harsh and vast universe.'
Key to achieving this goal will be the viability of SpaceX's Starship rocket, which is yet to be proven as a reliable launch vehicle. Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, and is being developed to ferry crew and cargo throughout the Solar System. SpaceX has already secured a multi-billion dollar contract with Nasa to use Starship for its Artemis program, which is aiming to return humans to the Moon's surface by 2028.
This date, which has already been pushed back from an original target of 2024, could face further delays following recent setbacks with Starship testing. Last week, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded any further Starship test flights after flagging a mishap with its latest test launch on 22 May. During the test, Starship's Super Heavy booster crashed heavily into the Gulf of Mexico due to some of its engines failing to reignite during a splashdown procedure.
