Who’s excited about SpaceX’s IPO? Space nerds.

Late last month, a crowd gathered at South Padre Island, Texas, to watch the imminent launch of SpaceX’s new rocket.

Thousands showed up, far more than the hundreds drawn to previous SpaceX launches. Live broadcasts of the event could be heard asking each other whether they would invest in the company’s initial public offering, which is scheduled to take place this month.

“Major shout out to Elon,” the rapper Nicki Minaj said on one live stream referring to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Ms Minaj, who was wearing a black “Starship” T-shirt, bearing the name of SpaceX’s largest rocket, said it was her first time attending the launch and she was “very excited”.

As SpaceX prepares for one of the biggest IPOs ever, few are as excited as the community of people who lovingly call themselves space nerds.

On Reddit forums dedicated to rocket science and astronomy, enthusiasts posted how this offering could help space exploration. On podcasts that dissect images of deep space, the hosts asked questions about investing in the stock market. And on X, Mr. Musk’s social media platform, live streams of SpaceX rockets discussed how high the company’s share price could climb on its first day of trading.

The IPO is expected to create generational wealth. On Wednesday, SpaceX set a stock price of $135, which would value the company at $1.77 trillion. As the first “mega offering” of the year, ahead of the expected IPOs of artificial intelligence companies OpenAI and Anthropic, SpaceX’s stock market debut generated excitement from Wall Street to Silicon Valley.

But for space enthusiasts, it’s about much more than money. People who spent their summers at NASA boot camp and evenings at observatories to catch a glimpse of the stars said the opportunity to invest in a company that makes rockets and satellites was a moment to accelerate the global effort to explore space.

“This IPO is great because it democratizes access to space for individuals like me around the world, not just in America,” said Royden D’Souza, 49, a freelance journalist and podcast host in Doha, Qatar, who has focused on space for nearly three decades. “Space is the ultimate dream, isn’t it? And the new space economy is the future of the global economy.”

Mr. D’Souza said he has seen global interest in the surge in IPOs and has devoted several episodes of his “Over the Horizon” podcast to how to invest in the company. People all over the world are worried about missing out on the offer, he said.

“It’s a feeding frenzy right now,” Mr D’Souza added.

He said he had taught his 13-year-old daughter, who invested in Mr. Musk’s electric car maker Tesla, about the SpaceX bid and that she “is pretty much on board with the whole IPO and the buzz around it.”

Space enthusiasts are generally an optimistic bunch. Raised on science fiction and captivated by the mysteries of space, many celebrated each new development in engine design and rocket fuel that brought humans closer to deep space exploration.

Mr Musk, 54, who founded SpaceX in 2002, has long been a community hero. The mogul popularized private spaceflight, set a goal of reaching Mars and created the dominant satellite Internet service Starlink. Space fans often hang on Mr. Musk’s every word. Last week, when Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded, enthusiasts decided to highlight Mr. Musk’s social media post in which he wrote: “Too bad. Missiles are heavy.”

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.

The IPO also boosted other space companies. RocketLabs, an aerospace manufacturer, and Intuitive Machines, a lunar exploration firm, saw their shares are rising as the offer approaches.

“A successful IPO is good for the entire ecosystem,” said Jack Kuhr, director of research at Payload, a space industry publication.

Mr. Kuhr added that the excitement was palpable even for people who weren’t fans of SpaceX or Mr. Musk. “It will encourage investors to invest in space, invest in companies that are exploring space and bring attention to the industry,” he said.

Will Bruey, co-founder of Varda, a space-based pharmaceutical company, uses SpaceX rockets to get his capsules of chemical compounds into orbit. The company’s headquarters in El Segundo, California, employs many SpaceX alumni, including Mr. Bruey, who worked at Mr. Musk’s company until 2018.

“When I was at SpaceX, we were underdogs,” Mr. Bruey said. “This IPO is just a huge legitimizer of commercial space endeavors.”

He grew up dreaming of space travel and thought it was “fundamentally more awesome to explore the universe than not,” he added. “I’m in it for the awesome.

Others are just in it to support Mr. Musk. In a podcast hosted by Aviation Weekly, which covers the aerospace, defense and aerospace industries, editor Michael Bruno noted that while Mr. Musk was not always successful in his business ventures, when things did go well, they went “really, really right.”

“What people end up buying is Elon Musk,” Mr. Bruno said.

That sentiment was echoed on X, where some of Mr. Musk’s fans recently reposted a quote first attributed to fellow billionaire Peter Thiel: “Never bet against Elon.”