SpaceX raised USD 850 million during its last funding round, bringing its valuation to about USD 74 billion, CNBC reported citing sources. The valuation is a leap from August, when the company raised USD 1.9 billion at a valuation of USD 46 billion, but lower than reports talked about in December. The company raised the new funds at USD 419.99 per share. Company insiders and existing investors were able to sell an additional USD 750 million in a secondary transaction. Sources said demand was extremely high during the latest round, and that the company received about USD 6 billion in offers over the course of three days.
SpaceX has two projects running. The first, Starlink, aims to build an interconnected internet network for hard to reach places using thousands of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. SpaceX estimated earlier that Starlink would cost USD 10 billion or more to build, but also that it could generate as much as USD 30 billion per year, more than 10 times the annual revenue of SpaceX’s existing rocket business. SpaceX has to date launched over 1,000 satellites for Starlink, and has started a public beta service for customers in the US, Canada, and the UK, telling the FCC it has over 10,000 users for the service. It has also widened the scope of the public beta, allowing people to preorder the Starlink service for USD 99, with service set to start in late 2021 or 2022.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk Musk recently reiterated plans to eventually spin off Starlink and take it public. He said that Starlink “needs to pass through a deep chasm of negative cash flow over the next year or so.” “Once we can predict cash flow reasonably well, Starlink will IPO,” Musk said.
SpaceX’s second project is its Starship rocket, with building and testing prototypes taking place in Boca Chica, Texas. The company has successfully launched a number of Starship prototypes, landing them safely after short flights to about 500 feet altitude. Its two most recent high-altitude flights however exploded on impact during attempted landings. The Starship prototypes are built of stainless steel, with the company aiming to develop a reusable rocket system. The aim is to send cargo and people on missions to the moon and Mars. The next Starship prototype is in place on the company’s launchpad, with SpaceX expected to attempt another test flight in the coming weeks.
