SpaceX might get investment capital from Saudi and UAE investors
According to several reports in the business press, SpaceX is presently negotiating with investment companies in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to possibly provide additional investment capital to the company.
Citing two individuals reportedly familiar with the matter, The Information noted that Saudi Arabia’s Water and Electricity Holding Company, Badeel, and the United Arab Emirates’ Alpha Dhabi are participating in the funding round. Morgan Stanley is reportedly organizing the investment effort.
At present it is unknown how much would be invested. It is also unclear if this foreign investment in an American rocket company can pass muster with the U.S. State Department.
SpaceX has already raised about $10 billion in private investment capital as well as $4 billion from NASA for the development of Starship/Superheavy.
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According to several reports in the business press, SpaceX is presently negotiating with investment companies in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to possibly provide additional investment capital to the company.
Citing two individuals reportedly familiar with the matter, The Information noted that Saudi Arabia’s Water and Electricity Holding Company, Badeel, and the United Arab Emirates’ Alpha Dhabi are participating in the funding round. Morgan Stanley is reportedly organizing the investment effort.
At present it is unknown how much would be invested. It is also unclear if this foreign investment in an American rocket company can pass muster with the U.S. State Department.
SpaceX has already raised about $10 billion in private investment capital as well as $4 billion from NASA for the development of Starship/Superheavy.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Will SpaceX itself pay for missions to the Moon and Mars? There is no commercial return on investment from a Mars colony. That is only done for science and adventure. Yet SpaceX has investors who presumably are looking for a return on their investment.
Steve Richter asked: “Will SpaceX itself pay for missions to the Moon and Mars?”
Maybe they won’t have to, or, at least, a good chunk of the cost. There are plenty of people with money looking for some science and adventure. Lots of PR value in sponsorship of the first Human mission to Mars.
And if they do have to foot the bill, it’s not so very different than the prospecting done by energy companies. You can’t find resources you don’t look for, and I would wager SpaceX has an eye on developing interplanetary trade. If Mars has as much water as seems likely, it might be the cheapest place to get the stuff in the Inner System.
Speaking of energy companies-Musk needs to change course and support Space Solar Power-as energy sector money will likely outperform Starlink.
Pass Congressional approval?? Just let Hunter, Joe, and Jim in on the action and VIOLIN! IT’s done!! (yeah I know – just be facetious)
Or as a former boss liked to say… “VIOLA!”
Steve Richter,
You wrote: “There is no commercial return on investment from a Mars colony.”
Just because you cannot think of any activities that could provide commercial return on investment does not mean that there are none. One of the factors in favor of Mars missions is the coming low cost of transport to and from there. As with commerce in low Earth orbit, which is becoming far more commonplace due to the low launch costs, profitable commerce elsewhere can become possible elsewhere, too.
On the other hand, Elon Musk has noted that the goal is to make humanity a multi-planetary species, not to make money hand over fist. Maybe some investors are looking for a humanitarian goal like this. People keep saying that corporations are just out for a buck, yet here we are, looking at a corporation that has a different goal in mind, and people still find fault.
On the third hand (the Gripping Hand, for Niven/Pournell fans), a small population living in a hostile environment is likely to come up with some mighty handy inventions that we could use back here on Earth.
Edward said:
“Maybe some investors are looking for a humanitarian goal like this. People keep saying that corporations are just out for a buck, yet here we are, looking at a corporation that has a different goal in mind, and people still find fault.”
Elon is still a one off in that regard. Gates doesn’t spend real money on space—and Bezos too busy playing with his new girlfriend and yacht.
Getting space in the energy sector—which never went broke—is the key.
And with the Saudis backwardness—and now the UAE said to help China funnel arms to Russia through Turkey—Elon better sup with them using the longest spoon he has.