Elon Musk’s SpaceX reportedly raises $850m boosting its valuation by 60%

The latest influx of cash sent the company’s valuation to nearly $74bn

SpaceX’s Starship is a fully reusable transport system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. AFP

Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX completed an equity funding round of $850 million, increasing the company’s valuation 60 per cent to nearly $74 billion, according to a media report.

The company had a $46bn valuation at its last round that raised $1.9bn in August 2020.

SpaceX raised the new funds at $419.99 a share last week, CNBC reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

“SpaceX raised only a portion of the funding available in the marketplace … the company received insane demand of about $6bn in offers over the course of just three days,” the broadcaster said.

The latest injection of new funds coincides with SpaceX simultaneously working on two futuristic projects – Starship rocket mission and Starlink initiative – to build an economical internet ecosystem using clusters of satellites.

Earlier this month, SpaceX expanded the scope of the public beta test of its Starlink project, by started taking pre-orders from potential customers in the US, Canada and the UK.

Membership in the Starlink project comes at a monthly cost of $99. There is an additional upfront cost of $499 that covers Starlink equipment such as a Wi-Fi router and a user terminal to connect to satellites, in addition to shipping charges.

The US Federal Communications Commission has sanctioned SpaceX to launch 11,943 satellites.

With more than 1,000 satellites already deployed, SpaceX aims to have 4,425 Starlink satellites over the next four years.

In 2019, Mr Musk told reporters Starlink could generate $30bn of revenue annually.

SpaceX’s Starship is a transport system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.

The company is building and testing prototypes in Texas.