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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

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SpaceX now one of the world’s most valuable companies

Data from a new round of investment capital fundraising says that SpaceX is now valued at $21 billion, placing it among the only six venture-backed companies worth more than $20 billion.

The article also notes that this new valuation is up from the $12 billion listed only two years ago.

Update: As noted by my readers, I have revised the post to note that this story refers not to all companies but to those that obtained their financing privately.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

8 comments

  • wodun

    A launch rate rivaling the rest of the world will do that.

  • ted

    The article states ” just six other venture-backed companies are valued at $20 billion or more around the world.” That’s a long way from “SpaceX now one of the world’s most valuable companies” or ” SpaceX is now valued at $21 billion, placing it among the only six companies worth more than $20 billion.”

  • Matt in AZ

    The article says SpaceX’s value places it among the six other venture-backed companies worth so much. There are many companies (of other types) throughout the world that are worth far more than $20billion.

  • Matt in AZ

    Oops, looks like Ted beat me to it!

  • Thank you Ted and Matt. I have revised the post.

  • ken anthony

    Absolutely amazing considering they are in the development part of the growth curve rather than the revenue part with much greater cost efficiency to come.

    I’m miffed that I can’t buy stock even though Elon has plainly stated that profit is not his primary motivation.

  • Diane Wilson

    I can certainly understand why Musk wants to keep SpaceX private, since he’s pouring all the profits back into development. Stockholders, most of whom are pension funds and mutual funds, tend to want a share of those profits. They also tend to want a say in business plans, to ensure that they get those profits. I’ve worked in both privately held and publicly held companies; the difference is very real.

  • LocalFluff

    Oh, it’s easily worth it!
    As with media or weapons, your product has more benefits than the cash flow from customers. SpaceX will dominate all space flight and it will be very hard for anyone to catch up. And you all know what is in space, right? Everything!

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