Spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX has pushed its valuation to $74bn, a more than sixfold increase on the $12bn it fetched when Google led a $1bn round in 2015.

SpaceX, the US-based spacecraft producer and launch services provider backed by internet technology group Alphabet as an investor, has raised $850m in fresh funding, CNBC reported on Tuesday.

The round is thought to value SpaceX at $74bn and the company’s shares sold for $419.99 in the transaction. Concurrently, unnamed existing backers sold $750m worth of shares in a secondary transaction.

None of the investors or selling shareholders have been identified and SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment…

Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is editor-at-large of Global University Venturing and Global Corporate Venturing, and host of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast.