SpaceX, an aerospace company owned by billionaire Mr. Elon Musk, has secured $337.4 million in equity financing.
According to reports, SpaceX, which counts tech giant Alphabet and Fidelity Investments among its investors, achieved $100 billion in valuation following a secondary share offering in October. It had also raised about $1.16 billion in equity financing in April.
The company competes with the eCommerce giant Amazon’s former Chief Executive Mr. Jeff Bezos’s space venture Blue Origin and billionaire Mr. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic in the burgeoning competition of commercial rocket ventures. All three rocket companies have successfully launched civilians into space.
According to Morgan Stanley, space has become an investment theme that will impact multiple industries beyond Aerospace & Defense, such as IT Hardware and Telecom sectors. Morgan Stanley estimates that the global space industry could generate revenue of more than $1 trillion or more in 2040, up from over $350 billion currently.
Mr. Musk, who also owns several futuristic companies including Tesla, Neuralink and Boring, said earlier this year that SpaceX will be landing its Starship rockets on Mars well before 2030, adding that the really hard part will be building the first self-sustaining base. By 2050, Mr. Musk hopes to have a million people on Mars.
SpaceX has already launched numerous cargo payloads and astronauts to the International Space Station for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Last week, the rocket company launched its 31st rocket of the year, sending a used Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station (ISS) before nailing the company’s 100th landing.
