SpaceX valued at $137b tipped to raise $750m and rescue stranded NASA astronauts.

According to an email seen by CNBC, SpaceX, Elon Musk’s manufacturer of reusable rockets and provider of satellite internet, is raising $750 million in a fresh round of fundraising that values the firm at $137 billion.

The news that SpaceX was allowing insiders to sell shares at a price of $77 per share, or about $140 billion, was first revealed by Bloomberg last month. According to prior information from CNBC, the company raised more than $2 billion in 2022, including a $250 million round in July, and was valued at $127 billion at an equity round in May.

The fresh investment round will likely be led by Andreessen Horowitz (commonly known as a16z), according to an email issued to potential SpaceX investors. In the beginning, Founders Fund, Sequoia, Gigafund, and many others invested in SpaceX.

A16z also took part in Elon Musk’s $44 billion leveraged acquisition of Twitter, which was completed in late October 2022.

A request for comment was not immediately answered by SpaceX or a16z.

While SpaceX encountered delays with its Starship program last year, which is a component of NASA’s mission to send men back to the moon, the company nonetheless reached a number of new goals.

On the plus side, Starlink, the company’s satellite internet service, surpassed 1 million customers and gave people in Ukraine who had their infrastructure disrupted by Russia’s invasion a lifeline. Through its Falcon program, SpaceX was also able to launch more than 60 reusable rockets in a single year.

At its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, the corporation is now continuing to build its Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicles. When the corporation will proceed to the program’s next phase, which calls for an orbital launch test of these larger vehicles, is unclear.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson recently questioned SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell about whether Musk’s “distraction” as the new owner and CEO of Twitter might affect SpaceX’s work with the space agency, according to NBC News. Musk has frequently voiced his opinions about geopolitical issues on Twitter. Shotwell, according to Nelson, reassured him that it wouldn’t.

According to CNET, NASA is now debating whether SpaceX can aid in the rescue of people aboard the International Space Station, including an astronaut and two cosmonauts from Russia’s Roscomos. An inquiry is being conducted to evaluate whether the Russian Soyuz capsule can safely return the crew to Earth or if emergency steps must be taken. The leak in the Russian Soyuz capsule occurred in December.