Our PE investment, SpaceX, Achieved Profit in 2023 Recently and Become an EU Partner
Our private equity project, SpaceX, has signed a contract with the European Union to launch up to four European Galileo navigation satellites twice in 2024. This will be the first time in 15 years that the Galileo spacecraft has been launched from non-European territory. SpaceX can become the EU's preferred cooperation partner, which is inseparable from the company's advanced development strategy - From a startup to the most innovative space pioneer giant, SpaceX only uses 20 years.
SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk in 2002, is an American private company that provides services such as orbital rocket launches, manned space flights, and satellite operations. Its future vision is to reduce the cost of space transportation and Mars immigration.
As the company’s rocket-related technologies become increasingly mature and the Starlink network density gradually increases, SpaceX's current revenue mainly comes from Starlink's satellite communication services, manned spaceflight, and space launch services. In the first quarter of 2023, SpaceX's operating income was US$1.5 billion, and its total profit reached US$55 million. The company's rapid turnaround is due to rapid growth in operating income.
As of mid-2023, Starlink has reached distribution agreements with more than 15 physical and e-commerce chain stores, and its retail network covers no less than 4,000 electronic products and household daily necessities stores in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Currently, Starlink satellite Internet services cover four continents, are available in 32 countries, and have more than 500,000 orders worldwide.
In terms of manned and carrier capacity, SpaceX has four manned Dragon spacecraft, and the launch site is constantly being expanded. On August 31, 2022, NASA and SpaceX signed another $1.4 billion order to launch five manned Dragon spacecrafts before 2030 to carry out Crew-10~14 manned space missions.
As for launch business, SpaceX adopts the strategy of small profits and has almost become a monopoly in this field. SpaceX had 61 times launch in 2022, with a 100% success rate. In the first half of 2023, 88% of U.S. launch site customer missions were powered by SpaceX rockets.
It is reported that excluding the cost of manufacturing rockets and satellites, SpaceX expects operating profits this year to be approximately US$3 billion (approximately 21.45 billion yuan), approximately twice the revenue of the previous year.
In July of this year, SpaceX was valued at nearly $150 billion after selling internal shares at $81 per share. And in January, SpaceX raised $750 million in a funding round, with shares selling for $77, valuing the company at $137 billion.
Source：
SpaceNews
SpaceX
Reuters
The Wall Street Journal