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How Hong Kong’s investors can gain exposure to SpaceX’s record-breaking US$75 billion IPO
Options for potential exposure include brokerages offering access to US stocks, buying into SpaceX’s partners, and exchange-traded funds
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Zhang Shidongin ShanghaiandThemis QiPublished: 10:30am, 24 May 2026
Hong Kong investors gearing up for SpaceX’s US$75 billion initial public offering (IPO) on Wall Street could find a variety of ways to gain exposure to what is expected to be the world’s biggest-ever stock flotation.
Local stock traders could subscribe to the IPO through brokerages offering service access to US stocks, such as Futu Securities International and Tiger Brokers. While this would be the most direct way of taking part in SpaceX’s offering, it requires a higher asset threshold and is often only open to a small group of qualified investors. Furthermore, since most of the IPO shares are set to be slated for global institutional investors, the chances of individuals winning an allotment of shares are not high.
Alternatives include buying into SpaceX’s listed business partners, such as EcoStar and Planet Labs PBC, or US exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that already invest in Elon Musk’s commercial aerospace unit, like seasoned money manager Cathie Wood’s Ark Space and Defense Innovation ETF.Advertisement
SpaceX has dominated news headlines over the past week following its application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to list on the Nasdaq. Global investors are keen to secure an allotment of shares in anticipation that commercial aerospace will become another key area of competition between China and the US after the massive investment in artificial intelligence. Liquidity has tightened ahead of the IPO, with some investors having pulled out of existing stocks to reserve cash for SpaceX share subscription.
“In the past, investors who wanted to participate in the space economy often had no choice but to opt for relatively small launch service providers or satellite communication companies upstream and downstream in the supply chain,” said Futu Securities. “SpaceX’s IPO will directly provide the secondary market with a space-dominant player worth trillions.”
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As one example, Nasdaq-listed EchoStar sold its spectrum licences for satellite and mobile communications in exchange for cash and stocks in SpaceX last year. After the deal, the company owned US$8.5 billion worth of shares in SpaceX, which was valued then at about US$400 billion. The value of the holdings is likely to surge, given that SpaceX was most recently capitalised at US$2 trillion. EchoStar’s stock has risen 18 per cent this year.
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