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SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp) is in the business of American space exploration, which operates as an aerospace manufacturer and provides space transportation services. The mission statement of SpaceX is to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets (Parker, 2023). The well-known company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with $100 million of his own seed money. A year prior to that, Musk had conceptualized life on Mars, and even traveled to Russia to purchase an intercontinental ballistic missile that could launch payloads into space. The first rocket, Falcon 1, attempted to launch in March 2006 but did not reach orbit. It wasnt until September 2008, after several failed attempts, that Falcon 1 successfully launched, which was a significant accomplishment for the unique company, acquiring much-needed recognition as a genuine establishment in the space industry (NSE, 2023).

In 2010, SpaceX became the first aeronautic company (privately-funded) to send a shuttle into orbit and safely return to Earth. The same spacecraft (Dragon) then traveled to the International Space Station in 2012. Since then there have been several milestones achieved, leading up to a 2020 launch that sent astronauts from NASA to the International Space Station and back again. SpaceX is currently developing the Starship, which theoretically will be able to convey citizens and cargo to the Moon, planet Mars, and perhaps other destinations in space. Additionally, the innovative Company has established a global satellite internet network known as Starlink, available to provide internet service worldwide.

The space exploration industry is certainly a risky one both physically and financially! There have been multiple disasters and a few controversies since SpaceX first raised over $12 million from the Founders Fund in a Series A funding round in 2002. Series A Funding is what occurs after seed funding and the startup company is operational but with few employees (DigitalOcean 2023). A required Series A valuation performed is an involved process that estimates market size, risk, revenue, and several other factors so that investors will be confident in contributing.

After a Series B funding round in 2005 (raising $22 million), several significant failures occurred that nearly halted everything. Despite setbacks, NASA awarded SpaceX a $278 million contract in 2006; the company then raised $31.5 million in a Series C funding round in 2007; again in 2008-2010 several more funding rounds raised multi millions; then in 2020 a Series F funding round raised over $221 million. Fast forward to March 2023, where a Grant round brought the total funding to about $9.8 billion (Immad, 2023).

SpaceX remains a privately-owned company, and there havent been any concrete plans announced to go public. Thus far the space exploration company has so successfully raised capital through venture and private equity funds, there is no incentive to go public (and lose the benefits of being privately owned). SpaceX does offer private shares to investors, but its somewhat difficult and expensive to purchase (Lehman, 2023).