Like many highly valued startups, SpaceX sometimes allows its employees to cash out some of their shares by selling to company-authorized outside investors. TechCrunch has gotten a peek at an internal SpaceX document about such a tender offer from May 2022. Musk posted on X last month that SpaceX holds such sales for employees about […]
NASA puts $10M down on Mars sample return proposals from Blue Origin, SpaceX and others
It turns out the space industry has a lot of ideas on how to improve NASA’s $ 11 billion, 15-year plan to collect and return samples from Mars. Seven of these proposals have caught the agency’s attention. Announced today, NASA has awarded $ 1.5 million contracts to seven companies to further develop their plans for […]
SpaceX sent Starship to orbit — the next launch will try to bring it back
SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket could take to the skies for the fourth time on June 5, with the primary objective of evaluating the second stage’s reusable heat shield as the vehicle tries to safely reenter the atmosphere for the first time. CEO Elon Musk“ said on his social media platform X that “There are many […]
Former top SpaceX exec Tom Ochinero sets up new VC firm, filings reveal
Former senior SpaceX executive Tom Ochinero is teaming up with SpaceX alum-turned-VC, Achal Upadhyaya, and one of Sequoia’s top finance leaders, Spencer Hemphill, on a new venture called Interlagos Capital, TechCrunch has learned. There is little public information available about Interlagos, and the trio did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. The company was […]
Internal pre-Starlink SpaceX financials show big spending on moonshot bets
Confidential financial statements from SpaceX for 2018 and 2019 capture an early glimpse at the degree to which the company is likely dependent on its Starlink business unit, and bringing the Starship rocket online, to become cash flow positive. While the comprehensive balance sheets are five years old, they provide an intimate look inside the […]