SpaceX’s valuation skyrocketed to $127 billion with the recent equity round in July of $250 million. Earlier in May, the company had a financing round raising $1.725 billion. Now, the company is said to be the second most valuable private company in the world.
SpaceX develops the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company aims to return NASA astronauts to the moon and send the first humans to Mars within this decade. Such an ambitious venture requires massive capital to develop the technology needed to achieve it. The aerospace company returned human spaceflight capabilities to the United States in 2020 and is on track to perform multiple crewed flights both for NASA and private commercial space flights. NASA had not launched any astronauts from American soil since 2011, SpaceX enabled the U.S. to reemerge as a space power.
In September 2021, SpaceX launched the world’s first all-private, all-civilian orbital flight for charity known as ‘Inspiration4.’ A Falcon 9 rocket launched Shift4 Payments founder Jared Isaacman with a crew of three to orbit the Earth for three days aboard the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft. The Inspiration4 mission was designed to fundraise and raise awareness for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The mission demonstrated SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft are safe to carry out space tourist missions with no professional astronauts onboard. Dragon has the capability to operate with full autonomy, the crew only trained for six months to prepare for the out-of-this-world adventure. SpaceX also made history when it partnered with Axiom to launch the world’s first all-private crew to visit the International Space Station in April.
Developments
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has bold plans for SpaceX, he does not want to settle in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The company is developing the next-generation launch vehicle that will enable more humans to travel to space. SpaceX’s mission is to open access to space for more people. The Starship/Super Heavy rocket is under development in South Texas, the monstrous stainless-steel spacecraft will be capable of transporting up to 100 passengers to the lunar and Martian surface.
Besides building the foundation for a spacefaring civilization, SpaceX is working to connect the world to the Internet through its Starlink satellite constellation. Millions of people living in rural and remote regions around the globe still do not have reliable access to the internet. SpaceX’s Starlink division is working to deploy the world’s most advanced satellite broadband internet infrastructure that will enable communities in remote places to access the world wide web. Musk previously said that if Starlink obtains enough customers, long-term, the broadband network could help the company further fund its Mars colonization objective. To date, SpaceX has launched around 2,900 Starlink satellites to LEO and provides internet access to over 500,000 subscribers living across 37 countries.
