SpaceX is one of the biggest companies on the planet, and after years of waiting, retail investors finally got their shot. The rocket maker went public on June 12, 2026 under the ticker SPCX - and this week, options on the stock launched and instantly set a first-day trading volume record.

The flood of orders shows just how badly everyday investors have wanted in on Elon Musk's rocket maker.

A New Way In For Retail

For years, the only way to own a piece of SpaceX was to be an early employee, a venture investor, or rich enough to get into a private deal.

Everyone else watched from the sidelines as the company's value climbed into a range once reserved for the largest public tech names.

SpaceX's IPO cracked that door open - the company priced at $135 a share and raised about $75 billion, the largest IPO in history. Shares jumped more than 25% on debut, pushing the valuation above $2 trillion.

Then came options. On Tuesday, June 16, roughly 1.8 million SpaceX contracts changed hands - blowing past Meta's 2012 debut record of about 365,000 contracts. Trade Alert pegged the premium traded at around $2.8 billion, with calls outpacing puts 1.3-to-1.

These trade on a major exchange like any other options contract, which means investors can buy and sell during market hours just like a normal stock option.

We track moves like this every morning in Market Briefs - five minutes a day, plus a free investing masterclass when you join.

Three Drivers Behind The Surge

Three things are pulling money in:

• Starlink has turned into a real business with more than 12 million paying subscribers across 160+ countries.
• Starship is moving from test flights to real missions, with NASA contracts already signed.
• A blockbuster IPO that vaulted SpaceX past a $2 trillion valuation - putting it in the same league as the largest public companies on day one.

Each driver on its own would be enough to pull demand. Together they've made SpaceX one of the most-watched names on Wall Street.

Investors who missed the early Tesla trade don't want to miss this one, and options on SPCX give them a leveraged way to play the story without buying the stock outright.

Private-Market Access Hits Wall Street

First-day records don't happen by accident - they happen when demand has been building for years with nowhere to go.

Private-market access has quietly become one of the biggest themes on Wall Street, with retail no longer content to sit out the biggest names. OpenAI, Stripe, and other private giants still hold the kind of attention that used to belong to the next hot IPO - and SpaceX just showed what happens when one of them finally lists.

Every vehicle that cracks the door open - pre-IPO funds, tender offers, IPOs, now options on day-one listings - gets flooded the moment it lists. The SpaceX options debut is just the latest, and probably not the last.

Worth Noting

These are leveraged bets on a stock that has only been public for a few days. With a thin float and a fresh listing, SPCX has been moving fast - which makes options pricing more volatile than a seasoned name.

There's also an August lock-up expiration that traders are already hedging around, per Susquehanna - a reminder that new supply can hit the tape and move the stock.

The upside is real for investors who believe in the long-term story, but so is the risk that a sudden drop in the share price sends options prices moving fast.

If you want this kind of read on the market every morning, join 350,000+ investors reading Market Briefs - you also get a 45-minute investing course as a bonus.