Featured Image Source: SpaceX

SpaceX raised $1.9 billion in equity this month during its latest funding round, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC filing details the aerospace company is offering to sell another $165 million in common stock, for an overall total of $2.07 billion. Bloomberg reports, 75 investors participated in this second funding round of the year, stating the private rocket company will have an equity value of $46 billion.

The funding comes as the company completed a set of important missions. SpaceX returned human spaceflight capabilities to the United States. It launched NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket in May. It was the first astronaut launched from American soil in nearly a decade. The mission, referred to as Demo-2, was also SpaceX’s first crewed flight. Behnken and Hurley safely returned aboard Crew Dragon early August marking the beginning of a new era in American human spaceflight. The private company demonstrated it is capable of safely launching and returning astronauts.

SpaceX doesn’t plan to settle with transporting astronauts to low Earth orbit, the company ambitions to develop a spacecraft to colonize Mars. Engineers are currently developing a massive stainless-steel Starship that will one day be capable of carrying 100 passengers and tons of cargo to the Red Planet. Starship prototypes are undergoing testing at SpaceX’s South Texas facilities located in Boca Chica beach along the border with Mexico.

The same week NASA astronauts returned from space, SpaceX achieved launching a Starship prototype at Boca Chica. The Starship SN5 test vehicle soared 150-meters off the ground and landed flawlessly powered by a single Raptor engine. It was the first large-scale prototype to take flight. Now, teams are preparing to launch the next vehicle, SN6. It is expected to conduct a low-altitude test flight this month – if pre-flight testing goes smoothly.

SpaceX is also launching internet-beaming Starlink satellites to offer low latency, broadband internet globally. Starlink will offer additional revenue to fund SpaceX’s space program, including building a base on the moon and Mars. To date, SpaceX has deployed around 648 Starlink satellites into Low Earth Orbit atop previously flown Falcon 9 rockets.

In fact, SpaceX’s financial disclosure took place the same day (August 18) the company launched and landed the same Falcon 9 booster for a sixth time, setting a new reusability record. SpaceX is the only aerospace company in the world that has demonstrated superior engineering capability to return orbital-class rockets routinely. Falcon 9 returns from space landing vertically on autonomous drone ships at sea minutes after liftoff. SpaceX officials say a Falcon 9’s first-stage booster is designed to be reused 10 times with little refurbishment. The most a booster has flown is 6 times, engineers aim to achieve 10 flights, and say Falcon 9 has the potential to conduct 100 flights before retirement.