A long exposure photo shows the path of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as it launched the ispace mission on December 11, 2022, also showing the return and landing of the rocket booster.
SpaceX
Elon Musk’s reusable rocket maker and satellite internet company SpaceX raises $750 million in a new round of funding that values the company at $137 billion, according to correspondence from CNBC.
Last month, Bloomberg first reported that SpaceX allowed insiders to sell for $77 a share, which would have brought the company’s valuation to nearly $140 billion. The company raised more than $2 billion in 2022, including a $250 million round in July, and was valued at $127 billion during a capital round in May, CNBC previously reported.
According to an email to potential SpaceX investors, Andreessen Horowitz (aka a16z) is likely to lead the new round of funding. Early SpaceX investors included Founders Fund, Sequoia, Gigafund, and many others.
A16z also participated in Elon Musk’s leveraged buyout of Twitter, a $44 billion deal that closed in late October 2022.
SpaceX and a16z did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Over the past year, SpaceX has achieved several new milestones but has faced delays in its Starship program, part of NASA’s effort to bring astronauts back to the moon.
On a positive note, the company’s satellite internet service, Starlink, surpassed 1 million subscribers, providing a lifeline for users in Ukraine who suffered from infrastructure disruptions following the Russian invasion. SpaceX also managed to surpass 60 reusable rocket launches in a single year through its Falcon program.
The company is currently continuing development of its Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicles at the company’s starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. It’s not clear when the company will move to the next step in the program, which includes an orbital launch test of these larger vehicles.
While Musk has repeatedly commented on geopolitical issues on Twitter, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson recently asked SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell if his “distraction” as Twitter’s new owner and CEO could interfere with SpaceX’s work with the space agency, reported NBC News. Nelson said Shotwell assured him that was not the case.
NASA is now considering whether SpaceX can help rescue residents of the International Space Station, including an astronaut and two cosmonauts with Russia’s Roscomos, according to CNET. Russia’s Soyuz capsule had a coolant leak in December, and investigations are underway to see if the spacecraft can safely get the crew home, or if emergency measures need to be taken instead.