SpaceX seeking another $1.725 billion in investment capital
Capitalism in space: SpaceX has begun another private funding round, now asking for $1.725 billion in new investment capital.
The space venture is looking to bring in up to $1.725 billion in new capital, at a price of $70 per share, according to a company-wide email on Friday obtained by CNBC. Notably, SpaceX split its stock price 10-for-1 in February, which reduced the common stock to $56 a share – with the new valuation representing a 25% increase.
When added to past funding rounds — and including the $2.9 billion provided by NASA for turning Starship into a manned lunar lander — SpaceX will have raised approximately $12 billion total for building Starship.
Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Well, compared to what NASA has spent for its expendable SLS rocket (about $60 billion), $12 billion is chicken feed, especially because Starship will not be expendable, but entirely reusable.
If this contrast doesn’t illustrate the strength of freedom, competition, and private enterprise over government, I don’t know what does. Government, not caring about making a profit, produces a disposable rocket costing many billions, and takes two decades to do it. Private enterprise in comparison also wants a big rocket, but it also doesn’t look kindly on throwing away its investment with each launch. It instead insists the cost to build it be constrained, as well as the time to do it.
The result: Government accomplishes little and wastes a lot. Private enterprise makes it happen, and quickly for a reasonable cost.
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 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
Capitalism in space: SpaceX has begun another private funding round, now asking for $1.725 billion in new investment capital.
The space venture is looking to bring in up to $1.725 billion in new capital, at a price of $70 per share, according to a company-wide email on Friday obtained by CNBC. Notably, SpaceX split its stock price 10-for-1 in February, which reduced the common stock to $56 a share – with the new valuation representing a 25% increase.
When added to past funding rounds — and including the $2.9 billion provided by NASA for turning Starship into a manned lunar lander — SpaceX will have raised approximately $12 billion total for building Starship.
Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Well, compared to what NASA has spent for its expendable SLS rocket (about $60 billion), $12 billion is chicken feed, especially because Starship will not be expendable, but entirely reusable.
If this contrast doesn’t illustrate the strength of freedom, competition, and private enterprise over government, I don’t know what does. Government, not caring about making a profit, produces a disposable rocket costing many billions, and takes two decades to do it. Private enterprise in comparison also wants a big rocket, but it also doesn’t look kindly on throwing away its investment with each launch. It instead insists the cost to build it be constrained, as well as the time to do it.
The result: Government accomplishes little and wastes a lot. Private enterprise makes it happen, and quickly for a reasonable cost.
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 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
Robert,
Are all of those $12 billion just for Starship? My recollection (and your linked historical post) is that some of the monies raised in the past also went to Starlink.
If this is the case, then Starship is an even better deal than SLS, and since so little of its development cost comes from the taxpayer, it is a good deal for the taxpayer, too.
Edward: My understanding is that in the initial fund-raising rounds much of the money went to Starlink. Since then the bulk, almost all, has been for Starship.
Note however that the money is for SpaceX to use as it sees fit. Thus the money I suspect is fungible, and can be applied where needed. Since most of the cost right now is in Starship development, I believe that is where SpaceX is spending it.
And yes, this makes Starship and even better deal than SLS.
Any chance SpaceX will go public in the near future?
“The company is also conducting a secondary sale to company insiders and existing shareholders for up to $750 million in common stock.”
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/spacex-raises-money-after-boeing-success
Boeing is public-so I should hope not. Musk has Von Braun’s passion, Hughes fortune and Kelly Johnson’s instinct-is an exception. Jack Welsh the rule…the Santorum Accuweather Bill would have been an example of how privatization would have failed consumers-like free trade.
Greg the Geologist asked: “Any chance SpaceX will go public in the near future?”
Probably not any time soon. A publicly traded company is required to act in the best interests of the owners (shareholders), which removes major risk taking as a strategy. Going to Mars is a major risk. Developing Starship could be considered a major risk. As a public company, the board of directors could be sued for having such risky policies.
As a privately owned company, Elon Musk has a lot more say in how the company is run and in its short term and long term goals. Only as a private company can it be used as a means to get Musk to Mars before he dies. As a public company, that goal would be self-serving, not serving the interests of the other owners.
When can we send the Democrats to the Spice Mines of Kessel?