Latest SpaceX Funding Round Could Value Company At £28bn

Matthew Broersma,
SpaceX's Starship prototype. Image credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk’s rocket company looks to raise additional $250m as it builds satellite broadband network, NASA orbital vehicle and Mars transporter

SpaceX is looking to raise about $250 million (£193m) in a funding round that would value the company at about $36bn, up from $33.3bn, CNBC reported, citing people familiar with the plans.

The funding round, which includes an equivalent purchase offer to existing SpaceX shareholders, values the company’s shares at $220 per share and is not expected to conclude until the second week of March.

The details of the round could change between now and mid-March due to changing market conditions.

Last year SpaceX raised $1.33bn in three funding rounds, making it one of the world’s most valuable private companies.

A stack of flat Starlink satellites prepares to deploy in Earth orbit. Image credit: SpaceX
A stack of flat Starlink satellites prepares to deploy in Earth orbit. Image credit: SpaceX

Starlink

The firm, headed by Elon Musk, is engaged in a number of high-profile, capital-intensive projects, including the launch of the Starlink satellite-based broadband network.

SpaceX has been launching Starlink satellites in batches of 60 since May 2019 and currently has about 300 in orbit as it looks to introduce services in the US and Canada by the end of this year.

The company has said it eventually plans to spin Starlink off as a publicly traded company in the next several years.

SpaceX is also developing the Crew Dragon spacecraft to fly NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, and has received $3.1bn from NASA for the project since it was commissioned in 2014.

The spacecraft is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew programme, under which Boeing is developing the competing Starliner capsule.  Both Starliner and Crew Dragon have seen cost overruns and schedule delays.

An animation of the Starship rocket in orbit. Image credit: SpaceX
An animation of the Starship rocket in orbit. Image credit: SpaceX

Mars rocket

Starship is SpaceX’s next-generation reusable rocket intended to launch defence payloads and eventually transport up to 100 people to the moon and Mars.

The company is building an initial Starship vehicle in southern Texas, with launchpads under construction there and in Florida.

SpaceX is also planning a major manufacturing facility on about 18 acres of land in the Port of Los Angeles, near SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

A share surge earlier this month boosted the market value of electric car maker Tesla, Musk’s other company, to over $100bn, more than Volkswagen and second only to Toyota.