SpaceX Corp. is planning a funding round for next month with the goal of raising about $250 million at a $36 billion valuation, according to a new report.

CNBC today cited insiders as saying that Elon Musk’s rocket company is aiming to close the investment in the second week of March. SpaceX will reportedly sell shares at $220 apiee and make an “equivalent purchase offer” to existing stockholders.

Elon Musk’s other company, automaker Tesla Inc., completed a stock sale of its own earlier this week that netted $2.31 billion. But whereas Tesla is listed on the Nasdaq, SpaceX has remained private ever since its founding in 2002. SpaceX has since grown into one of the aerospace industry’s primary space launch providers. And as of January it’s also the largest commercial satellite operator in the world. 

A Jefferies Group LLC estimate last year pegged the company’s 2018 revenues at about $2 billion. But even with the strong top line and the fact that, as of 2018, it was profitable, SpaceX periodically raises outside funding to help finance projects. The $250 million investment reportedly being hammered out now comes at a particularly important time for the company.

SpaceX is expending significant resources on its Starlink project, which would place 12,000 internet satellites in low Earth orbit to enable global web access. The company is currently launching new satellites at a rate of about 60 every two weeks using its Falcon reusable rockets. In parallel, SpaceX is developing a successor to the Falcon that is set to make its debut flight this year.

An extra $250 million in the bank should give the company more leeway to pursue its near-term goals. In the long run, SpaceX has indicated it may turn to other methods to raise capital. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell recently told investors that the company is mulling spinning off Starlink and take it public in order to help raise the estimated $10 billion it will take to complete the construction of the satellite network. 

Photo: SpaceX