SpaceX is going public.

The commercial rocket company founded in 2002 by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has become nearly synonymous with 21st century spaceflight. Between its reliable Falcon 9 rocket and its experimental Starship rocket, SpaceX has positioned itself at the center of both satellite deployment operations and human space travel.

But up until now, Musk has kept the company private-held, meaning the public hasn't been able to directly buy its stock and participate in its growth.

That's due to change – and soon.

SpaceX is rapidly preparing to enter the stock market and list its shares on the U.S.-based Nasdaq in what is shaping up to be potentially the largest initial public offering (IPO) in years, if not of all time.

Before that happens, here are five things to know about SpaceX's IPO.

Investors have long been eager for SpaceX to make an initial public offering, or an IPO, which would be the first time the company sells shares of stock to the public.

After accelerating its timeline for its IPO, SpaceX is now aiming to list its shared as early as June 12 on the Nasdaq, Reuters reported, citing sources.

The IPO is expected to raise a record $75 billion at a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion, according to Reuters.

That valuation would be the largest public debut in market history and make SpaceX one of the most valuable U.S. private companies.

SpaceX was valued at $1.25 trillion in February when it merged in a blockbuster move with xAI, Musk's AI company that owns social media site X and is known for developing the Grok AI chatbot.

For years, SpaceX has dominated the commercial spaceflight market by becoming one of the most prolific launch service providers to both private and government entities.

The company's 230-foot two-stage Falcon 9 rocket is the most active in the world, regularly getting off the ground to deliver SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites to a growing constellation in low-Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 is also responsible for launching NASA astronauts to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule.

But it's SpaceX's massive 407-foot Starship rocket that is central to the company's future ambitions of landing humans on the moon and even Mars.

Fortunately for SpaceX, the 12th and most recent flight test of Starship – the largest rocket in the world – from South Texas was largely a success. Launching May 22, the latest Starship mission was regarded by industry analysts as a positive step toward helping SpaceX gain momentum in attracting investor interest as the company works toward developing the rocket to be fully reusable for missions deep into space.

Under the leadership of a divisive figure like Musk, SpaceX has long held lofty ambitions much more grandiose than its Starlink satellite business.

As Musk has oft proclaimed, SpaceX's main objective is to "make life multiplanetary" by facilitating humanity's exploration deeper into space than ever before. SpaceX's IPO filing didn't shy away from that cosmic goal, but leaned into it with references to NASA's lunar missions under the Artemis program and Musk's own vision of a human settlement on Mars.

But the filing presented those dreams as being grounded in reality, casting things like asteroid mining and energy production on the moon and Mars as attainable milestones rather than echoes of science-fiction.

A report from CNBC suggests Musk has discussed with colleagues the possibility of merging SpaceX with his electric vehicle company Tesla. The media outlet cited "people familiar with the talks who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the topic."

Because the two companies already share resource, a current Tesla employee told CNBC that many workers at the electric vehicle company already expect the Tesla and SpaceX to be folded together eventually.

Contributing: Reuters

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 5 things to know about SpaceX's upcoming landmark IPO listing