Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. or SpaceX is raising $750 million in a new round of funding, valuing the company at $137 billion, CNBC reported citing a correspondence it viewed.
Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, could be a lead investor in the rocket maker and satellite internet company.
A16z has previously invested in SpaceX along with investors Founders Fund, Sequoia, Gigafund and many others, the report said. A16z also had participated in Musk's $44 billion buyout of social media platform Twitter.
Bloomberg in December had reported that SpaceX was offering to sell insider shares at a price of $77 per share, that would have raised the company's valuation to about $140 billion.
Reuters has reported recently that SpaceX was in talks about an offering of mostly secondary shares that could value the company at up to $150 billion.
In 2022, SpaceX raised more than $2 billion, including a $250 million round in July. During an equity round in May, the firm, founded by Musk, was valued at $127 billion.
SpaceX's investors also include, among others, Alphabet Inc. and Fidelity Investments.
In June, Musk had told employees at SpaceX that the company would not intend to take its Starlink satellite internet business public before 2025.
Starlink satellites, SpaceX's constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, offers internet to vast areas around the world and recently exceeded 1 million subscribers. The company expects to generate major revenue with commercialized applications including offering high-speed internet on commercial airlines.
SpaceX has already signed deals with various commercial air carriers for providing Starlink internet service on their aircraft. Starlink will also provide high-speed internet onboard the full cruise fleet of Royal Caribbean Group, the world's second-largest cruise line operator.
In addition, SpaceX in August had signed a deal with telecom major T-Mobile US Inc. to provide cell phone connectivity by linking Starlink satellites to mobile phones with a view to provide universal coverage.
Further, SpaceX, which designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft, is in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA to help with various space programs. The company has already launched many astronauts and cargo payloads to the International Space Station for NASA.
SpaceX recently was selected by NASA to be a part of Artemis III mission to take astronauts back to the moon. The company will develop a lunar lander capable of carrying astronauts between lunar orbit and the surface of the Moon. SpaceX will also support a second human landing demonstration as part of NASA's Artemis IV mission.
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