UPDATE 1-European space stocks surge as Musk's SpaceX IPO nears lift off

European ‌space ​stocks surged on Thursday after Elon Musk's SpaceX filed for a stock market listing, lifting sentiment across the sector. If ‌completed at the reported valuation, SpaceX's listing would be the first U.S. market debut above $1 trillion and would place the rocket and satellite-internet company among the world's most ‌valuable publicly traded groups.

Shares in French satellite operator Eutelsat were up 16% ‌by 0942 GMT, while German satellite maker OHB soared 12% and Luxembourg's SES rose 2.3%. Eutelsat and OHB have respectively increased their market value by 26% and 33% this week. SpaceX's hotly anticipatedinitial public ⁠offering (IPO) filing ​on Wednesday is driving ⁠positive sentiment for European satellite stocks, one trader told Reuters.

The rally has stretched beyond Europe. U.S.-listed ⁠space names have also climbed sharply this year, with Intuitive Machines rising 88%, Rocket Lab ​up 77%, Firefly Aerospace up 85% and Iridium Communications up 155% since January ⁠1. Jan Frederik Slijkerman, analyst at ING, said sentiment towards European satellite operators had improved after a ⁠weak 2025, ​when investors worried that new low-Earth orbit constellations would disrupt the market and create overcapacity, particularly for geostationary assets.

"More recently, the narrative has shifted," he ⁠said, though he declined to comment on SpaceX in particular. In its filing, SpaceX laid ⁠out a total ⁠addressable market opportunity of $28.5 trillion, of which $1.6 trillion was represented by its satellite internet business Starlink.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)