SpaceX, Trying To Get Its Starship Into Orbit From South Texas, Set To Raise Another $750 Million
Jan. 5—SAN ANTONIO — As it works to get its Starship into orbit from South Texas and continue growing its system of communication satellites, SpaceX is reportedly set to raise $750 million in a funding round that values the company at $137 billion.
According to CNBC, the California-based space company raised more than $2 billion in 2022, including a $250 million round in July, and was valued at $127 billion during an equity round in May.
SpaceX is investing in the largest rocket system ever built, the Starship and Super Heavy booster that will carry it into space from the Starbase launch site in Boca Chica, near Brownsville.
Starship also is part of NASA's Artemis program aiming to return astronauts to the moon. And it's key to expanding the company's Starlink network of communication satellites.
For more than a year, Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and CEO, has set and missed target launch dates to fly the reusable rocket into low-Earth orbit. In October, a senior NASA official who oversees the Artemis program said SpaceX would launch its first Starship in early December.
SpaceX had continued to conduct suborbital rocket tests while awaiting completion of an environmental review of launch impacts, debris and road closures in and around Boca Chica. The review, needed before the Federal Aviation Administration could issue a license for an orbital mission from Starbase, was extended five times from its original deadline in December 2021.
The FAA completed the review in June, issuing a finding of "no significant impact" but requiring SpaceX to take more than 75 actions to mitigate the potential impacts.
The FAA said Tuesday the licensing process for SpaceX was still ongoing. The evaluation includes reviews on policy, payload, safety, airspace integration, financial responsibility and environmental impacts.
"FAA will make a license determination only after the agency is satisfied SpaceX meets all licensing, safety and other regulatory requirements," the agency said.
SpaceX didn't respond to questions Tuesday.
The SpaceX fundraising comes as Musk's finances gain increased attention since his acquisition of Twitter and big declines in the value of Tesla Inc., Musk's electric vehicle company.
It also comes as he has been building more of his businesses in Central Texas.
In addition to overseeing SpaceX, Musk is CEO of Tesla, whose headquarters is near Austin. The facility, known as Texas Gigafactory, has been making Model Y sedans and is expected to begin producing its Cybertruck this year.
Musk is also the founder of San Francisco brain-computer startup Neuralink, which plans to build a 37-acre facility in Travis County. He leads Boring Co., a tunneling company partly owned by SpaceX now based in Pflugerville, near Austin.
The Boring Co. has been attempting projects across the area and remains in talks with the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority to construct a tunnel loop to ferry passengers between San Antonio International Airport and downtown.
Aside from the Starbase site, SpaceX operates a rocket-engine development and testing facility in McGregor, near Waco.
SpaceX is also building a 521,000-square-foot structure in Bastrop County. Directly across the street, the Boring Co. has been setting up an 80,000-square-foot warehouse.
Emails between SpaceX and Bastrop County officials indicate the company plans to build a manufacturing plant at the site for Starlink. Construction began in May.
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