AEROSPACE firm SpaceX is looking to raise US$1.7 billion (RM7.4 billion) in fresh funding, a massive initiative as its controversial founder continues to make news, reported television channel CNBC yesterday.

Citing a company-wide email the network claimed it obtained, CNBC reported the space travel pioneer will be paying US$70 a share – 25% above the US$56 a share the stock traded for in February after a stock split.

That will value the 20-year-old firm – the first private company to send astronauts into orbit, among many other firsts – at US$127 billion.

That valuation has steadily climbed in recent years, as SpaceX raised billions to finance work on its next-generation Starship rocket and Starlink global satellite internet network.

Meanwhile, independent portal Insider this week reported SpaceX has paid US$250,000 to resolve a complaint for alleged sexual misconduct by Elon Musk against an attendant on a SpaceX corporate jet.

The 50-year-old rejected the charge, tweeting that “for the record, those wild accusations are utterly untrue”.

Musk, who is SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO, also announced that he is making a US$44 billion offer to buy Twitter.

But he this week said he first needed clarity on the prevalence of fake or spam accounts on the social media platform before moving forward with the purchase. – AFP, May 23, 2022.