While investors love to shine the spotlight on Tesla due to its explosive growth in valuation over the past year, Elon Musk’s private venture, SpaceX, is also getting attention from some VC investors.
SpaceX just raised $1.9 billion in new funding, according to a regulatory SEC filing authorized on Tuesday. The filing was first spotted on Tuesday by Reuters, and follows a Bloomberg report from last week. According to Bloomberg, this puts SpaceX’s valuation at about $46 billion.
SpaceX is currently in the middle of its years-long Starlink mission, which aims to provide internet access around the globe through a network of low-orbiting satellites. Its most recent Starlink launch was this Tuesday, when the company fired another 58 Starlink satellites into orbit. SpaceX has launched 655 Starlink satellites so far.
The recent Starlink launch is also special because it used SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which has been used for five other launches. This means that the Falcon 9 rocket has been launched and successfully landed six times — a record achievement. That’s a big deal for SpaceX, which is researching and developing technology that allows rockets to be reused and recycled multiple times.
Despite SpaceX’s ability to recycle its rockets, space exploration is still an expensive industry to be in. So this new funding should help as the company continues its Starlink mission, as well as the development of its Dragon, Starship and Falcon Heavy rockets.
