Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch's news editor and space expert, dives into the booming space startup ecosystem. He discusses SpaceX's impressive fundraising and its valuation, alongside the role of Starlink's satellite array. The excitement around all-civilian space missions sparks a light-hearted debate on who’s eager to venture into space. Etherington also explores Axiom Space's $130 million investment for a commercial space station and the implications of SPACs on the future of aerospace funding.
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SpaceX Funding and Valuation
SpaceX raised $850 million at a $74 billion valuation, a 60% increase in just six months.
Both funding rounds were led by Sequoia Capital, totaling over $600 million invested in SpaceX.
insights INSIGHT
New Space vs. Old Space
"New space" companies like SpaceX are disrupting "old space" giants (e.g., Boeing, Lockheed Martin).
New space companies emphasize iterative development and transparency, unlike traditional aerospace contractors.
insights INSIGHT
Starlink's Ambitions and Cost
Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet network, aims to provide global internet coverage.
The project is estimated to cost around $10 billion, highlighting SpaceX's capital needs.
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Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.
This is our first-ever Wednesday episode. If you want to learn more about the latest edition of the podcast, head here for more. This week we talked about space, an increasingly active part of the global economy, and a place where we're seeing more and more young tech companies place their focus.
We were lucky to have TechCrunch's Darrell Etherington join us for the show. He's our resident expert, so we had to have him on to chat about the space startup ecosystem. Here's the rundown:
SpaceX has raised a bunch more money, at a far higher valuation. We chat about why it didn't raise more, and how much capital there is available for the famous rocket company.
Starlink came up as well, as the satellite array just put another 60 units into orbit. What is it good for? We have a few ideas.
Which brought us to a side conversation on which one of us are most interested in going to space commercially. It's the raised hands feature no one asked for, but take your guesses on who wants to go first and see if you're right.
And then there was the Astra SPAC. You can read its deck here. What matters is that we get a look into how fast it plans to ramp future launches. And the answer is fast.
As we get more comfortable in our Wednesday episodes, we'll tinker with the format and the like. As we do, we're always taking feedback at equitypod@techcrunch.com, or over on Twitter. Hit us up, we're having a lot of fun but are always looking for ways to sharpen the show!
Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.
Equity 