Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX completed an equity funding of $850 million that sent its valuation to $74 billion last week, CNBC reported.
SpaceX raised the new funds at $419.99 a share. The latest raise represents a jump of about 60% in the company’s valuation from its previous round in August, when SpaceX raised near $2 billion at a $46 billion valuation.
The latest influx of cash comes as SpaceX continues to simultaneously develop two capital-intensive projects.
Starlink is its ambitious project to build an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites, known in the space industry as a constellation. It is designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers anywhere on the planet. SpaceX leadership has previously estimated Starlink will cost about $10 billion or more to build. But believes wholeheartedly that the network could bring in as much as $30 billion a year or more than 10 times the annual revenue of its existing rocket business.
The company disclosed in an Federal Communications Commission filing last week that Starlink has over 10,000 users in the United States and abroad, in just over three months since the public beta began.
Musk also reiterated last week that SpaceX plans to eventually spin off Starlink and take it public. He said, “Starlink needs to pass through a deep chasm of negative cash flow over the next year or so.”
“Once we can predict cash flow reasonably well, Starlink will IPO,” Musk said.