Over $1 billion Raised By SpaceX

As per the regulatory filings, SpaceX has raised over $1 billion in new capital in the present year as it embarks on the deployment of its Starlink broadband constellation. The Company has stated that the launch provider turned satellite operator raised $486.2 million in one round, and about $535.7 million in another in its filing to the , the company said in May 24 filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 24, 2019. SpaceX is presently building up two capital-intensive projects.

These are fully reusable Super Heavy booster with its Starship upper stage, and the Starlink broadband mega constellation of nearly 12,000 satellites.  SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated in the year 2017 that the plan for funding Starship and Super Heavy involved replacement of SpaceX’s current Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets with the new launch system. In a call with reporters in the previous week, Musk stated that SpaceX believes it can also use Starlink revenue so as to fund the new launch system. How SpaceX would add up to the funding of Starlink has remained a subject of discussion within the satellite industry. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and COO estimated in the previous year that the constellation would cost about $10 billion.  As per statistics reported by the Jefferies Financial Group, SpaceX generated about $2 billion in launch revenue in the previous year. Musk stated that the launch revenue and capital raised provides the company with enough resources so as to undertake the massive project. Musk informed that nearly 800 satellites are required so as to reach “significant operational capability” and about 1000 satellites are required for attaining economic viability. Musk stated that Starlink doesn’t require 12,000 satellites to be successful; rather that SpaceX has the capability to scale up the constellation up to that number on the basis of demand. Ideally, SpaceX will have Starship and Super Heavy in service “by the time the target of 12,000 satellites is reached,” he informed, at the same time providing yet another means to lower the cost of deploying the constellation.

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://spacenews.com/spacex-raises-over-1-billion-through-two-funding-rounds/