SpaceX has closed a $350 million round of funding at a valuation north of $21 billion, as the company proves its abilities to dominate the commercial space flight industry.
The Elon Musk-led space company’s last round of funding closed at $1 billion from Google and Fidelity at a valuation of $12 billion. This most recent Series H round was disclosed by Equidate, a site that provides financial data on privately held companies. SpaceX’s $21B valuation brings it into a club of seven VC-backed companies that have valuations north of $20B. Musk has previously stated that he wants to wait as long as possible before bringing SpaceX public.
SpaceX declined to comment to Teslarati.
The latest funding round comes as SpaceX accelerates the frequency of launches and continues to chip away at their large order book. SpaceX’s COO Gwynne Shotwell has been focused on the company’s ability to generate revenue through a sustainable launch business. The company’s launch manifest is a clear representation of that goal being achieved.
Other competitors in the space business include Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Neither have been as successful or committed as Musk in making meaningful headway in lowering the cost of space flight. Rather than seeking venture funding, Jeff Bezos revealed plans to sell roughly $1B of Amazon stock per year to fund its operations.
A FCC filing from last November disclosed that Musk owned over 50% of SpaceX, bringing his net worth at least $5B higher based on the latest company valuation.
