Elon Musk’s SpaceX is poised to have the largest stock-market debut in history when it goes public later in June. SpaceX is aiming to raise US$75 billion (S$96.23 billion) in the initial public offering, more than twice the previous record holder. 

The IPO is expected to be a market spectacle as investors get a chance to buy into Musk’s vision to create a combined space and AI powerhouse. His long list of growth plans – including putting data centres in space – are hugely ambitious but also come with high costs, significant risks and could take many years to come to fruition.

Here’s what to know about the planned SpaceX IPO.

The company plans to market about 555.6 million shares at US$135 apiece, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. At that price, SpaceX would have a market value of almost US$1.77 trillion.

SpaceX’s goal of raising US$75 billion in the IPO would shatter the previous record set by Saudi Aramco’s US$29.4 billion in 2019.

The big question is whether such a large valuation can be sustained in public markets.

Analysts value companies based on their future earnings and growth, as well as industry competition and profit margins. But valuation is not a pure science. Especially in bullish market conditions, investors are sometimes prepared to pay up for a company’s shares based on something other than fundamentals.

Some might see the seemingly vast potential of the company’s space businesses as justifying a higher price than the current financials would ordinar...