Elon Musk’s Extraterrestrial Money Grab

Mr. Irving is an investigative journalist who has covered aviation and aerospace for more than 30 years.

Forget all of Elon Musk’s talk of heading to the moon and Mars, or “extending the light of consciousness to the stars.” The real reason for his forthcoming initial public offering — very likely to be the largest ever, opening up a small piece of SpaceX to the stock market — is far more mercenary.

The first clue to Mr. Musk’s game plan came in February, when he........

© The New York Times