Investing in Starlink: Stock Purchase Guide

You open your brokerage app, ready to invest in Starlink, type in the name, and find… nothing. With all the excitement around Elon Musk’s satellite internet, it’s a common source of confusion. So, can you buy Starlink stock? The simple answer is no, not directly.

The reason has nothing to do with a secret stock ticker or a special process. Starlink isn’t a standalone company that you can find on the stock market. It operates as a crucial and fast-growing division of its parent company, SpaceX, which itself remains a private entity.

But that “no” for today doesn’t mean “no” forever. To understand the path forward, it’s essential to know why you can’t invest today, what milestones Elon Musk is waiting for, and what alternatives exist in the space economy.

So, Who Actually Owns Starlink?

The main reason you can’t find a stock symbol for Starlink is that it isn’t a standalone company. While it operates as a distinct service with its own goals, Starlink is actually a project owned and developed entirely by a much larger, and more famous, parent company: Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Any revenue Starlink generates flows directly up to SpaceX.

In the business world, this makes Starlink a subsidiary. The easiest way to think about this is to look at Instagram. Millions of people use the app every day, but you can’t buy “Instagram stock.” That’s because it’s completely owned by its parent company, Meta (which also owns Facebook). The same logic applies here: Starlink is the groundbreaking service, but SpaceX is the company that owns it all.

This structure means that owning a piece of Starlink would require owning a piece of SpaceX, which leads to the next logical question: if Starlink belongs to SpaceX, can you just buy SpaceX stock instead?

Why You Can’t Find SpaceX Stock on the Market

If Starlink belongs to SpaceX, can you just buy SpaceX stock instead? The answer, once again, is no. The reason is that SpaceX is a private company. Think of it like an exclusive, invitation-only club—ownership is limited to a select group of founders, early employees, and specific investors. This is why you’ll never find a SpaceX stock symbol when you search for it on a trading app; it’s simply not for sale to the general public.

This private status is a deliberate choice. By remaining one of the world’s most prominent private space companies, SpaceX can focus on its incredibly ambitious, long-term mission—like getting humanity to Mars—without the constant pressure of public market shareholders who often demand short-term profits every three months. This freedom allows the company to make giant, risky bets that might take decades to pay off, a strategy that is much harder to execute as a public entity.

For the average person, this means the door to investing is currently closed. While some exclusive opportunities on how to invest in SpaceX pre-IPO occasionally exist for very wealthy, accredited investors, there is no direct path for the public. This wall between private companies and everyday investors seems permanent, but there is one major event that can tear it down for a company—or, in this case, potentially just a piece of it.

The One Event That Could Change Everything: The Starlink IPO

That one major event is called an Initial Public Offering, or IPO. Think of an IPO as a private company’s big coming-out party. After being owned exclusively by a small group of insiders, the company decides to “go public” by selling shares—small pieces of ownership—to anyone on the open stock market for the very first time. It’s the moment a private club opens its doors to the public.

The primary reason for an IPO is to raise a huge amount of money. For a project as massive as Starlink, which needs to build and launch tens of thousands of satellites, the costs are astronomical. An IPO would provide a massive cash injection to fuel that growth and accelerate its mission. This is exactly why so many potential investors are eagerly asking, “When will Starlink go public?”, hoping for an official Starlink IPO date and price to be announced.

What makes this situation particularly interesting is that Starlink could have an IPO all on its own. SpaceX could decide to “spin off” its successful internet division, allowing the public to buy shares of Starlink while SpaceX itself remains a private company. This very possibility is the source of all the excitement and speculation. To understand how likely that is, we have to look at what Elon Musk on the Starlink IPO has said himself.

What Has Elon Musk Said About a Starlink IPO?

Fortunately, Elon Musk has been quite direct on this topic. Whenever asked about a potential Starlink IPO, his answer has been consistent: Starlink’s financial performance needs to be “reasonably predictable.” He has stated that an IPO will only be on the table once the company has a steady, understandable flow of revenue and growth.

To understand what he means, think of the difference between a brand-new restaurant and a huge supermarket chain. The restaurant’s income is unpredictable—some nights are packed, others are empty. The supermarket, however, has a very stable and predictable flow of customers and sales. Musk wants to wait until Starlink’s business moves from that volatile early phase into a smooth, predictable operation before offering its stock to the public. He sees it as a duty to protect regular investors from too much uncertainty.

So, when will Starlink go public? The answer lies in its business performance. The key signal for a potential IPO will be news that Starlink has achieved consistent profitability and a stable subscriber base. Until then, any specific date is pure guesswork. This focus on stability naturally leads to the next question: what is Starlink actually worth?

What Is Starlink Actually Worth?

Since you can’t buy shares on a stock exchange, there’s no official “Starlink stock price.” Instead, experts discuss its valuation—an educated guess of what the entire company is worth. Think of it like getting a house appraised before it goes on the market. It isn’t a final sale price, but it’s an expert estimate based on the company’s performance, technology, and future potential. This is the key number investors watch.

Because it’s still wrapped inside its parent company, SpaceX, the two are valued together. As of early 2024, private investment deals have pushed SpaceX’s total valuation to around $200 billion. Financial analysts believe Starlink’s rapidly growing internet service is the main driver behind this staggering number, accounting for more than half of that total value and making it the most valuable part of SpaceX.

To put that figure in perspective, a $200 billion valuation makes SpaceX one of the most valuable private companies in the world, putting it in the same league as public giants like Netflix or McDonald’s. This immense scale explains the intense investor excitement. While a direct investment remains out of reach, this buzz has highlighted other ways to get involved in the booming space industry.

3 Ways to Invest in the Space Economy Today

Just because Starlink stock is off-limits for now doesn’t mean you’re stuck on the launchpad. You can still invest in the wider space economy through companies that are publicly traded on the stock market. This approach lets you tap into the industry’s explosive growth while you wait for a potential Starlink IPO. There are a few common strategies, from betting on household names to buying a bundle of different space stocks all at once.

• Public Aerospace Giants: These are massive, established companies with huge space divisions. Think Boeing (BA) or Lockheed Martin (LMT), which are long-standing cornerstones of the aerospace industry.
• Focused Space Companies: You can also invest in businesses dedicated almost entirely to the final frontier. This includes up-and-coming rocket-builder Rocket Lab (RKLB) or Starlink’s direct satellite internet competitor, Viasat (VSAT).
• Space-Focused ETFs: An Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is like a pre-made investment basket. With a single purchase of a space ETF like ARKX or UFO, you instantly own a small slice of dozens of different space-related companies.

It’s crucial to remember that investing in these alternatives isn’t a backdoor to owning Starlink. Rather, it’s a way to express confidence in the growth of the entire space sector.

Your Starlink Investment Plan: Wait, Watch, and Explore

While you can’t buy Starlink stock today, the path forward is clear. As a subsidiary of the private company SpaceX, Starlink is not yet available on public stock exchanges.

Your investment strategy, therefore, involves two key actions. First, monitor for news about a potential Starlink IPO, which hinges on the company achieving the stable, predictable revenue Elon Musk requires. Second, while you wait, explore other public companies in the growing space sector to participate in the industry’s future.

By focusing on the IPO criteria and exploring related aerospace investments, you can shift from simply searching for a stock ticker to strategically observing the market with new insight.