A long exposure photo shows the path of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as it launches its ispace mission on December 11, 2022, with the rocket’s return and landing also visible.
SpaceX
Elon Musk’s reusable rocket maker and satellite internet company, SpaceX, raised $750 million in a new funding round that values the company at $137 billion, according to a correspondent obtained by CNBC.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX was allowing insiders to sell at $77 per share, which would put the company’s value at close to $140 billion. The company raised more than $2 billion in 2022, including a $250 million round in July, and a $127 billion equity round in May, CNBC previously reported.
According to an e-mail sent to potential SpaceX investors, Andreessen Horowitz (also known as a16z) is likely to lead the new funding round. The company previously backed SpaceX along with Founders Fund, Sequoia, Gigafund and others.
A16z also participated in the leveraged Twitter buyout of Elon Musk, a $44 billion deal that closed at the end of October 2022.
SpaceX and a16z did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last year, SpaceX achieved several new milestones but faced delays for its Starship program, which is part of NASA’s efforts to bring astronauts back to the moon.
On top of that, the company’s satellite internet service, Starlink, has surpassed 1 million subscribers and is providing a lifeline to users in Ukraine that suffered infrastructure disruptions following the Russian invasion. SpaceX can also exceed 60 reusable rocket launches in a year through the Falcon program.
The company currently continues to develop the Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicles at the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. It is not clear when the company will move to the next step of the program, which will require orbital launch testing of this larger vehicle.
As Musk has repeatedly spoken about geopolitical issues on Twitter, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson recently asked SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell whether the “disruption” of the new owner and CEO of Twitter could affect SpaceX’s work with the space agency, NBC News reported. Nelson said that Shotwell reassured him it would not.
NASA is now considering whether SpaceX can help people aboard the International Space Station, including astronauts and two cosmonauts with Russia’s Roscomos, according to CNET. Russia’s Soyuz capsule suffered a coolant leak in December, and an investigation is underway to determine whether the spacecraft can safely return the crew or if emergency measures should be taken.