Tuesday, August 5, 2008

SpaceX Raises $20M

Hawthorne-based SpaceX said late Monday that it has received $20M in an equity investment from the Founders Fund. SpaceX develops commercial launch vehicles and spacecraft, and is headed by ex-PayPal founder Elon Musk. The Founders Fund is the venture capital investment arm of Peter Thiel and Ken Howery, also founders of PayPal. According to SpaceX, Luke Nosek, a Managing Partner at Founders Fund, will join the company's board as part of the funding. The funding comes on the heels of the third launch failure at SpaceX; the firm's launch Saturday of its Falcon 1 rocket failed at stage separation.