AMSTERDAM — Space companies and investors in Europe are closely watching SpaceX’s plans to go public, an event that could spur new investment in other companies.

During a panel at the SmallSat Europe conference May 26, industry officials said SpaceX’s initial public offering, expected to take place by mid-June, could encourage investors to seek opportunities in other companies in the industry.

“How much will this IPO validate space as a vertical for other investors?” asked Sven Meyer-Brunswick, principal at Alpine Space Ventures. “I do think there will be some investors who, after some time, will be seeking the next SpaceX.”

He suggested those opportunities may revolve around orbital data centers, AI applications in space or more traditional markets like launch and communications. “We’ve talked to quite some investors seeking ‘alt-SpaceX’ investment ideas,” he said.

Those are markets where SpaceX is, or plans to be, a major player, but he expected room for competitors. “We don’t believe in a market where one company will dominate 90% of it,” he said. “There likely will be other companies, but what are these next companies, and how will they be funded?”

Others took a more cautious view of the impact of SpaceX’s IPO on other companies, in part because of the scale of the public offering. “I think SpaceX is a one-of-one. There’s no one close to this valuation,” said Mike Collett, managing partner of Promus Ventures. “It is such an unusual IPO in so many different ways.”

He noted the interest in the IPO has driven up valuations of other companies in the sector. “It’s bullish for the space industry.”

There are downsides to that high interest in the IPO, though. “What if they don’t perform? Will that put a pall on the overall market?” asked Karl Schmidt, managing director at investment bank KippsDeSanto & Co.

Giuseppe Borghi, head of the European Space Agency’s Φ-lab Division, which supports innovation and commercialization in the Earth observation sector, said that while he hoped the SpaceX IPO would catalyze interest in European space companies, it was unclear how it would turn out. “SpaceX is such a unique story,” he said. “It’s so dominant in the market, so it’s difficult to extrapolate what’s going to happen there.”

Even without the SpaceX IPO, there has been growth in investment in European companies. “You’re seeing much, much larger rounds,” Collett said, as investors are willing to take on more risk. “It’s allowing some very large early-stage rounds in both the U.S. and Europe, and that will continue.”

Schmidt noted European investment still trails that in the United States, but he advised against comparing the two. “If we were just talking about Europe without thinking about the U.S., I think we’d be so excited about what we’re seeing over here,” he said, adding that he was seeing more interest in exits for space companies through IPOs or mergers.

“When comparing Europe to the United States, we’re easily 5 to 10 years behind,” Meyer-Brunswick said, without the large-scale contracts that can allow European space companies to bring in revenue and put them on a path to an IPO.

“We need visible revenue for a few years into the future to see the kinds of IPOs we’re seeing in the U.S. going forward,” he said. “But Europe is starting to step up its game.”