Plan your Apex Space NSO exercise
Calculator · free · no signup · pre-IPOApex Space is pre-IPO. Plan your NSO exercise tax (federal, state, FICA) at any expected valuation.
Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools
Your grant
Seeded from secondary-market data, as of Jun 13, 2026
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1
$10,931
Hold 1 yr wins by $8,785 over Sell + invest.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Sell + invest
| Bargain element (sale − strike) | $3,300 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$48 |
| Additional Medicare | −$30 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $200 |
| LTCG on diversified gain (fed + state + NIIT) | −$56 |
| Net at year 1 | $2,145 |
Sell every share immediately; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Exercise + hold 1 yr
Best payout| Sale proceeds (year 1) | |
| LTCG tax (federal + state + NIIT) | −$3,490 |
| Net at year 1 | $10,931 |
Sold 4,812 shares at exercise to cover strike + tax; 188 shares held 1 yr for LTCG.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're exercising as a current employee.
Both columns are stated in year-1 dollars: sell-now proceeds compound at the market return and pay LTCG on the gain at year 1; any cash paid out of pocket on the hold side carries the same opportunity cost.
Net at year N — by hold period
Estimates only. Excludes AMT (NSOs do not trigger AMT), state-AMT, multi-state moves, and disqualifying-disposition edge cases. Not financial advice.
You calculated one NSO decision. The beta plans NSOs alongside RSUs and ISOs in a single multi-year tax plan.
Request beta access →About Apex Space
Apex Space is a privately held Aerospace/Defense company, headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.
Last reported secondary-market price: $10.66 per share (as of 2026-06-13). Your own 409A may differ.
Satellite buses.
Equity grants at Apex Space typically include incentive stock options (ISOs) and non-qualified stock options (NSOs).
Apex, founded in 2022 by Ian Cinnamon (CEO, former Palantir acquisition founder) and Max Benassi (CTO, former SpaceX and Astra engineering director), manufactures off-the-shelf satellite buses across three product lines, Aries, Nova, and Comet, from a 50,000-square-foot production complex in Los Angeles. The company holds a $46 million U.S. Space Force contract and launched its first satellite aboard a SpaceX rideshare in 2023. Apex raised $200 million in a Series C in April 2025 and a further $200 million Series D in September 2025, bringing total equity and debt to over $500 million.
Sources: prnewswire.com · techcrunch.com
Equity comp at Apex Space
- Pre-IPO defense and aerospace startup; Series C ($200M) closed April 2025 led by Point72 Ventures and 8VC, with existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Washington Harbour Partners, and StepStone Group. Founded 2022 by Ian Cinnamon and Maximilian Benassi (Y Combinator W22). ITAR and export-control restrictions likely constrain secondary trading and foreign holders. No public tender offer disclosed as of May 2026.
Sources: sacra.com · prnewswire.com
Researched 2026-05-11.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Apex Space.
Apex Space NSO exercise creates ordinary income on the bargain element (federal, state, and FICA) at the price on the day you exercise. The calculator works at any valuation, so you can model your exercise cost at the current 409A FMV, an expected IPO price, or post-IPO scenarios.
Example: at Apex Space's last reported price of $10.66, exercising 5,000 NSOs with a $3.2 strike creates a $37,300 bargain element, taxed as ordinary income on the day you exercise. Combined federal + state + FICA on that bargain typically lands between $10,071 and $16,785 depending on your bracket and state. The calculator above computes the exact figure for your situation and compares selling now vs. holding through the long-term capital-gains threshold.
All Apex Space tools → · Use the generic NSO Exercise Calculator for any company.
Apex Space equity questions
- How is a Apex Space NSO exercise taxed?
- Exercising a non-qualified stock option (NSO) creates ordinary income on the bargain element (the price on the day you exercise minus your strike), subject to federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA. The calculator above computes that tax for your Apex Space grant and compares selling the shares now against holding past the one-year mark for long-term capital-gains treatment.
- Does Apex Space grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at Apex Space typically takes the form of incentive stock options (ISOs) and non-qualified stock options (NSOs). Incentive stock options can trigger the alternative minimum tax (AMT) when you exercise.
- Are Apex Space shares eligible for QSBS?
- They might be. Qualified small business stock (QSBS) under Internal Revenue Code Section 1202 can exclude federal tax on much of the gain when shares were acquired at original issuance from a C-corporation while its gross assets were under $50 million, and held at least five years. Whether your Apex Space shares qualify turns on when you acquired them and the company's asset size at that time.
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OptionsAhoy plans your Apex Space equity alongside hedging, vesting, and de-concentration, across bullish, neutral, and bearish market scenarios. Free during beta.