Elon Musk’s SpaceX took out a $20 billion bridge loan last month to refinance much of its existing debt ahead of its planned U.S. initial public offering, according to excerpts from a confidential regulatory filing.
Bridge Loan Reshapes SpaceX Debt Stack
Reuters on Thursday said the borrowing came from an unidentified syndicate of lenders and that SpaceX could be required to use IPO proceeds to repay the loan if it is not otherwise paid off within six months of the offering.
The details appeared in a confidential S-1 filing, the form companies submit to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission before going public to outline their finances, operations and risks to prospective investors.
The loan replaced five earlier debt facilities, including two term loans tied to Musk’s social media platform X and three borrowings by xAI, his artificial intelligence company.
As a result, SpaceX’s total debt fell to $20.07 billion as of March 2 from $22.05 billion at the end of 2024. The report by Reuters noted that the bridge loan runs for 18 months and can be extended twice for three months, fitting the standard mold of short-term financing later replaced by longer-dated debt.
IPO Push Raises Enormous Financial Stakes
SpaceX is expected to pursue a summer listing at a valuation around $1.75 trillion, which would make it the largest IPO ever. A March report had revealed that X and xAI were preparing to repay about $17.5 billion in debt in full before SpaceX’s IPO filing, though the source of that repayment capital was not disclosed.
AI Expansion Adds Fresh Financial Pressure
The debt cleanup comes even as SpaceX’s finances show strain from its expanded artificial intelligence push. The Information, reported on April 10, that SpaceX posted a loss of nearly $5 billion in 2025 on revenue of more than $18.5 billion. The reported loss included xAI, which SpaceX acquired in February 2026.
Meanwhile, Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Q1 2026 earnings on Wednesday revealed a $2 billion equity investment in SpaceX, aimed at strengthening vertical integration across AI, robotics, and semiconductor manufacturing.
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