SpaceX plans to raise $500 million to accelerate the construction of the Starlink network

SpaceX, the space exploration technology company owned by Tesla founder Elon Musk, will raise $500 million in a new financing round, doubling the original plan.

The document shows that the company authorized the sale of $500.6 million in equity at $220 per share. This round of financing values ​​SpaceX at approximately $36 billion, up from $33.3 billion last year. It is worth noting that this amount of money is about twice the amount SpaceX had previously expected to raise. SpaceX had previously sought to raise approximately $250 million at a price of $220 per share. SpaceX has not yet responded to requests for comment.

It is reported that the funds raised this time will be used for SpaceX's three major projects: the manned space capsule "Dragon Spacecraft", the communication satellite group " Starlink " and the reusable launch vehicle "Starship". Data shows that SpaceX is expected to spend about US$10 billion or more to build the Starlink network.

Musk recently confirmed that the production efficiency of the company's Starlink satellite factory has been significantly improved, making the satellite manufacturing speed faster than the launch speed. SpaceX launched the fifth batch of 60 Starlink satellites, taking another step towards the vision of building a space-based Internet to provide network services around the world.

In addition, last month SpaceX was approved to build a research and development and manufacturing plant for the "Starship" project at the Port of Los Angeles, California. According to the design, a single launch of the "Starship" can carry dozens of people to the moon or Mars. Musk previously said that he hopes the "Starship" will conduct its first orbital test flight by the end of this year. He expects that the "Starship" factory will provide 130 jobs.