SpaceX Is Taking Customers to Space, but Is the Stock Worth a Buy After an IPO?

There is nothing that excites the imagination more than outer space. Up until recently, the only way to get there was to become an astronaut.

But starting in 2001, a new industry called "space tourism" was born when American Dennis Tito, the first paying customer, was launched in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft brokered by a company called Space Adventures. He spent eight days on the International Space Station.

Now Elon Musk's SpaceX is back in the news after signing a deal to take customers to orbit in the next two years. We've all seen the company's rocket launches, its early failures and then successes landing its rockets back on Earth for reuse. We've all joked about Musk launching his own Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) roadster into space as the ultimate marketing gimmick.

Given Musk's very vocal wishes to visit Mars sometime this decade, it's natural for investors looking for that "next big thing" to want to buy stock in SpaceX.

But there's more to the story.

Here's what you need to know about a possible SpaceX IPO and how you can start investing in space travel right now.

The SpaceX IPO Isn't Your Only Option

[mmpazkzone name="in-story" network="9794" site="307044" id="137008" type="4"]

Despite the fact that it is likely to be a very hot initial public offering (IPO), we're afraid there is nothing in the works for that at this time.

In an e-mail sent to Reuters in May 2017, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said that any rumors about SpaceX preparing for a public offering were "not true."

As a private company, SpaceX, lesser known by its full name, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is an aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company. It was formed primarily to reduce space transportation costs to ultimately to enable the colonization of Mars. In 2018, it pulled in $2 billion in revenue from rockets, and estimates keep it just above that level for last year.

If you're ready to invest in space, that leaves you with few options.

Some speculate that like Solar City before it, Elon Musk would have Tesla absorb it through a merger. A merger would provide Tesla with SpaceX's $1 billion worth of assets and company cash and also allow Musk to concentrate on running one company again.

But like a SpaceX IPO, that is not around the corner, either. So, the only direct choice (and not a guaranteed choice) is to wait for that merger. But Tesla stock, which was already a favorite here at Money Morning, has more than doubled in 2019, so it may be a bit risky for individual investors right now.

But SpaceX has competition too, and these players are available to retail investors.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) are already making some noise. Bezos has made no secret about his vision to colonize space, but he's content funding Blue Origin himself. That means Amazon.com won't be backdoor play anytime soon.

Virgin Galactic might be the best opportunity. But the stock more than tripled since the start of this year. It hasn't unveiled plans to go to Mars yet either.

Stay tuned. We'll be watching SpaceX and Tesla to see if any opportunities open up. Don't worry; given what both companies have said, an IPO or merger is not likely to happen right away.

But just because these companies are unavailable to retail investors doesn't mean you're locked out of startup investing. You can become an angel investor today...

America's Favorite Angel Investor Shows How Easy It Is for Anyone to Invest in Ground-Floor Startups

You've probably seen stories about this person or that person making an absolute fortune from some unknown startup suddenly becoming a household name... like Uber, Airbnb, SpaceX, or Bird.

Now, it's your turn.

Shark Tank's Robert Herjavec is showing how easy it is for anyone to turn as little as $50 into what can be life-changing windfalls... all from investing in startups.

Click here to learn more...

Follow Money Morning onFacebook and Twitter.