If one were to build a word cloud of what the average investor associates with SpaceX, it would look something like: rockets, Elon Musk, Starlink, Mars. Somewhere in there, in a small font, you’d find xAI. SpaceX is seen, after all, as the ultimate space play. The numbers, on the other hand, tell a different story. Goldman Sachs, the lead underwriter of the upcoming IPO, projects that xAI will represent over two-thirds of the combined company’s business by 2030. Make no mistake: the anticipated debut of SpaceX is an AI IPO wearing a spacesuit.
Three and a half years since ChatGPT launched, one thing is clear: AI needs staggering amounts of physical infrastructure.
The $300 Billion Capex Cycle
Not surprisingly, the numbers involved in what is shaping to be the largest IPO in history are eye-watering. Goldman Sachs expects SpaceX to scale its revenue from $18.7 billion in 2025 to $474 billion in 2030. For that, the company is expected to spend over $300 billion in capital expenditures by the end of the decade.
Transforming xAI and its AI assistant, Grok, into the dominant engine of a $1.75 trillion business will send billions flowing directly into the broader technology ecosystem. For investors looking to capture this infrastructure boom without taking on single-stock concentration risk, the ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF (THNQ) offers a structural approach.
Semiconductors and Connectivity
Because training frontier AI models requires massive, centralized computing power, the most immediate beneficiaries of this capex boom are the infrastructure vendors. Outfitting a mammoth data center like xAI’s Colossus to a gigawatt scale requires a massive volume of processors and memory architecture. While the winner of the AI software wars won’t be known for some time, semiconductor designers like Advanced Micro Devices and connectivity leaders like Astera Labs stand to collect a toll on every ounce of compute capacity that SpaceX must deploy to scale up its operations.
Data centers do not run on processors and memory alone. When linking over 100,000 GPUs in a single cluster, securing raw compute and power is only half the battle. This is where data latency becomes a critical factor. This is the physical constraint of moving terabytes of data tightly within the server racks and across the vast data center floor without degrading the signal. To transfer information instantly and prevent the network from stalling, SpaceX must spend heavily on next-generation optical networking and high-speed interconnects. Companies like Credo Technology Group (CRDO) and Lumentum (LITE), both found within the THNQ portfolio, supply exactly this physical infrastructure.
Network Security
Once this physical network is built, it must be protected. Operating a facility of Colossus’s scale while simultaneously routing real-time telemetry from a global satellite constellation generates millions of potential entry points for hackers. Securing an environment this complex requires autonomous cybersecurity platforms. They must be capable of detecting and neutralizing threats at the exact same machine speed that malicious AI uses to attack. This reality directs another portion of that $300 billion capital expenditure toward AI-driven security providers. Exposure to this space is also found within the THNQ portfolio, with names such as CrowdStrike (CRWD) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW).
Factory Automation
While THNQ captures the compute and data demands of xAI, the rocket business is still core to SpaceX. The ultimate mission, after all, remains making humanity a “spacefaring civilization.” For investors seeking exposure to this physical side of SpaceX, the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index (ROBO) serves as a targeted vehicle. The ultimate goal of building 1,000 rockets in a year and continuously manufacturing Starlink satellites requires a highly automated assembly process. This demands precision robotics, automated testing equipment, and machine vision systems. The industrial automation companies that form the core of ROBO are the silent partners making this manufacturing scale possible.
ROBO features some of the key suppliers powering SpaceX’s spacefaring business, from the Starship complex at Starbase to the Starlink factory in Bastrop, Texas. For heavy machining, SpaceX utilizes robotic articulation systems from companies like ABB (ABB). Working alongside them are collaborative robots from Teradyne’s (TER) Universal Robots subsidiary, which handle repetitive, light-payload assembly. To verify tight tolerances on Raptor engines and Starship barrel sections, the production line relies on laser tracking hardware from Hexagon AB (HEXA B). Tying this physical hardware together is the engineering software backbone provided by Siemens AG (SIE). By holding these suppliers, ROBO also allows investors to capture part of the capital expenditure required to scale Starship production and the Starlink constellation.
The Strategic Takeaway
Whether SpaceX’s current valuation is ultimately justified remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is the signal sent by its projected $300 billion in capital expenditure: a massive, sustained demand for AI hardware and manufacturing infrastructure. Rather than chasing direct exposure to a single stock, investors can allocate capital to the structural tech stack that SpaceX must buy from to operate.
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THNQ is the underlying index for the ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF (THNQ) and the L&G Artificial Intelligence UCITS ETF (AIAI.LN). ROBO is the underlying index for the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation ETF (ROBO), the L&G ROBO Global Robotics and Automation UCITS ETF (ROBO.LN), and the Global X ROBO Global Robotics & Automation ETF (ROBO.AU).
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