Elon Musk's SpaceX has reportedly raised $850 million in fresh funding in a round that values the space company at $74 billion.
SpaceX is one of the most ambitious, and so far most successful, of a generation of companies focused on opening up space to the private sector. The company hit a huge milestone last year when its Crew Dragon spacecraft delivered astronauts to the International Space Station, and it continues work toward its goal to develop a spaceship capable of delivering humans to Mars.
Image source: SpaceX.
The latest capital raise will provide additional working capital, while also allowing insiders and existing investors to sell about $750 million worth of stock. The fund raise was reported by CNBC, which said the company's valuation jumped by 60% compared to SpaceX's last raise in August.
The new shares sold were priced at $419.99, a reference to Elon Musk's now infamous tweet declaring his intention to take Tesla (TSLA +3.93%) private at $420 per share.
While SpaceX has accomplished a lot, there are still expensive projects on the horizon. The company is attempting to launch a network of thousands of satellites to provide internet access via its Starlink service, and continues work to develop its Starship rocket designed for long-range transport.
Starship is still in the early stages, and has experienced a series of crashes on its testing pad in recent months.
