SpaceX shares began trading, sending the company's valuation past $2 trillion and cementing its place in the history books. Following the public listing, the 'skyrocketing' stock value has officially made company founder and CEO Elon Musk the world's very first trillionaire. After the successful IPO, Musk emphasised that the public listing is merely a stepping stone toward a much grander, sci-fi-inspired vision for humanity.
Musk says SpaceX competitors 'lacked ambition'
Speaking to a crowd of supporters and investors following the listing, Musk drew a sharp line between his company's philosophy and that of traditional aerospace contractors. He said that older aerospace firms and his competitors built reliable rockets but they lacked the ambition required to truly push humanity forward.
"While the other Aerospace companies they built good rockets and everything, they were simply not pursuing the technology that's necessary to make life multi-planetary. To make Star Trek, to make the exciting science fiction futures that we've read about," Musk said.
Musk added that the ultimate goal of SpaceX is to build the commercial infrastructure necessary to make science fiction futures, where ordinary citizens can space travel.
Elon Musk promises ticket to space, Moon and Mars to everyone
Central to Musk's post-IPO address was a promise that space travel will eventually be accessible to the general public, rather than being restricted to elite, government-trained astronauts. Equipped with the vast capital raised from the public markets, SpaceX plans to rapidly accelerate the development of its heavy-lift launch vehicles to slash the cost of space flight.
"That's what SpaceX is all about.. To take the fiction out of 'Science Fiction' and create an exciting, inspiring future for everyone. We want to be able to take anyone who wants to go to the Moon. Anyone who wants to go to Mars or anywhere in the solar system and maybe beyond the solar system," Musk said.
Concluding his speech, the trillionaire expressed complete confidence in his engineering workforce. "At some point, we want to be able to take you there. Not just not just a few astronauts. You. literally you. SpaceX wants to be able to take you to the moon, take you to Mars. And ultimately Beyond. And, I'm confident at this point that with the incredible team that we have here at SpaceX that we will do that for you," he noted.
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