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SpaceX raises more than half a billion dollars for Starship, Starlink programs

SpaceX has secured another ~$570 million to continue developing its ambitious Starlink and Starship programs. (SpaceX)

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6 years ago

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In the last three months, SpaceX has managed to raise more than half a billion dollars from private investors, money that will likely go directly into the company’s ambitious Starship and Starlink programs.

Despite a huge amount of public focus now placed on SpaceX’s successfully-realized human spaceflight ambitions, said by NASA to have been viewed live by no less than 10 million people around the world, the company is still committed to two extraordinarily ambitious development programs. Known as Starlink and Starship, both are integral to SpaceX’s founding goal of enabling the sustainable expansion of humanity into space.

Starship aims to be the world’s first fully-reusable orbital-class launch vehicle, nominally enabling SpaceX to place 150 metric tons (330,000 lb) in orbit with a single, low-cost launch. With orbital refueling from other Starship tankers, SpaceX could potentially send dozens of people to Mars at a cost that could put a ticket in reach of hundreds of millions of – if not more than a billion – people around the world. Starlink is no less ambitious and aims to blanket every inch of the Earth with high-quality, low-cost broadband internet via a fleet of more than 40,000 satellites. Both share three main similarities: they offer immense technical challenges, require extremely capital-intensive development programs, and may – if successful – enable the sustainable settlement of Mars.

With a whole lot of luck, this image could one day be realized with the help of Starship and Starlink. (SpaceX)

First reported by CNBC after SpaceX amended an SEC filing on May 26th, the news unsurprisingly fell through the cracks less than 24 hours before the company attempted its inaugural NASA astronaut launch. Initially said to have raised $567 million out of a target of $500 million, CNBC later revised their report on SpaceX’s latest round of funding, instead stating that the company had raised $346 million with a $349.9 million funding round.

As it turns out, the initial report was technically correct aside from its assertion that SpaceX was pursuing a $500M raise. Between two separate funding rounds seeking $250 million and $349.9 million, both opened on February 28th, 2020, SpaceX was able to raise $567 million of the $599.9 million it was hoping for from 27 investors. Based on SEC filings, SpaceX has now raised more than $1.6 billion since the start of 2019, nearly all of which has likely gone towards its expensive Starship and Starlink programs.

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An Earth-based view of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites in orbit. (Richard Angle)
Despite a recent setback, SpaceX’s Starship program has made extraordinary progress in the last six months. (NASASpaceflight – bocachicagal)

Incredibly, in just the last five months, SpaceX has managed to launch 360 Starlink satellites, while the next launch – scheduled no earlier than (NET) June 3rd – should give the company an orbital fleet around 475 satellites strong. Admittedly, 475 satellites represent barely more than 1% of the fleet SpaceX will need to realize its full Starlink ambitions, but it’s already the largest operational satellite constellation by more than a factor of two. By Starlink-14, potentially launching as early as August 2020, SpaceX can begin generating revenue by serving customers internet, revenue that – once profitable – could partially or fully fund Starship and Mars settlement development.

Two Starship prototypes – SN5 and SN6 – near completion at SpaceX’s South Texas factory. (NASASpaceflight – bocachicagal)

In the same period of time, SpaceX has dramatically expanded its South Texas Starship production facilities, built and tested several test tanks past the pressures needed for orbital flight, built and tested three full-scale Starship prototypes, and performed five successful Raptor engine static fires with one of those vehicles.

In short, the company has made extraordinary progress. Thanks to the unprecedented efficiency of Starship and Starlink production and the low cost and reusability of Falcon 9, SpaceX has also done so on a shoestring budget that would make its competitors and national space agencies recoil in disbelief. With another half a billion dollars in the bank and the continued support of Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, SpaceX has likely secured at least another 12-18 months of full-steam-ahead Starship and Starlink development.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Tesla owner attempts resale of Model S Signature Edition for over $260k

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3 hours ago

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July 14, 2026

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Credit: Tesla

A Tesla owner who purchased a Model S Signature Edition, one of the final 250 units of the all-electric flagship vehicle that the company discontinued earlier this year, is attempting to sell the car despite a no-resale clause that prohibits reselling for the first year.

The car is being sold by J&S Autohaus in Ewing, New Jersey, and is priced at $260,490, well above the $159,420 that Tesla sold it for earlier this year.

To those who do not know, the Model S Signature was a highly exclusive, limited-run farewell variant of the Model S Plaid that was produced this year to mark the end of production of both the Model S and Model X, Tesla’s two flagship vehicles.

Limited to just 250 units with invite-only sales, it serves as a collector’s item celebrating the legacy of the Model S, which helped pioneer Tesla’s electric vehicle success since its 2012 launch.

It bundles top-tier performance with bespoke cosmetic and luxury upgrades, plus Tesla’s Luxe Package. Here’s what the Model S Signature has over the typical Model S Plaid:

  • Exclusive Exterior – Unique Garnet Red Paint, matching door handles, gold Tesla “T” badges upfront, gold Plaid and Signature badging at the rear.
  • Premium Interior – White Alcantara upholstery with gold piping/accents, gold Plaid seat badges, Signature-marked door sills, individually numbered dashboard plaque, gold puddle lights, special interior lighting sequence, and a custom Signature key fob.
  • Performance Upgrades – Carbon-ceramic brakes with gold calipers
  • Bundled Luxe Package – Full Self-Driving (Supervised), four years of Premium Connectivity, free lifetime Supercharging
  • Performance Metrics – ~1,020 horsepower, sub-2-second 0-60 MPH, ~390-mile range

Tesla quickly introduced a No Resale Agreement for the Signature Editions of the Model S and Model X, which would penalize the seller for “the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater.”

The company continues:

“If you sell or otherwise transfer the ownership of your Model S or Model X, the remainder of the Recommended Maintenance, Wheel and Tire Protection Plan, and Windshield Protection Plan will transfer automatically to the buyer. The Full Self-Driving (Supervised), Free Supercharging and Premium Connectivity will not transfer with the vehicle and will terminate once the ownership of the Model S or Model X is transferred.”

Tesla will likely come after the seller, especially as it has been about two months since Tesla launched deliveries.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Early Impressions: new features and early performance

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7 hours ago

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July 14, 2026

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Credit: TESLARATI

Tesla rolled out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.3.5 yesterday, and about fifty miles of driving on the new version has given me enough time to highlight what seems to be strong about the release and what is not.

Additionally, Tesla has added a few new features with this specific update, which we’ll highlight as well.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Performance

The new update is business as usual. Things seem to be running completely normal and necessary, but there are a few things that we’ve seemed to pick up on based on our own experience with v14.3.5, as well as what other users are seeing.

Initially, it seems to be more aware of its surroundings, making moves that are incredibly courteous to other drives and operating just a tad more reserved than what the suite might have done previously.

We had two instances where it showed this, the first being FSD needing to pass a Flagger Force vehicle that was placing down signage for the day. Their work truck was right at the front corner of a right-hand turn; typically where most cars travel when they take that turn.

FSD v14.3.5 recognized this, slowed down, and took the turn wide with no issues:

Additionally, v14.3.5 backed up for a semi truck that was making a wide turn onto a road my car was on. This is not new, but it seemed to be backing up for courtesy; it didn’t seem completely necessary, but it might have put some peace of mind in the truck driver’s head:

X user Mike P, also a Pennsylvania native like myself, shared three clips of his Tesla running v14.3.5 performing similar maneuvers. He said:

“FSD turns right into a small alley that only fits one car at a time, sees oncoming car, reverses out of alley to make space, realizes oncoming car is actually parking, re-enters alley.”
Check it out here:

It seems like Speed Profiles are still in need of some tweaking; I am adjusting what Speed Profile I’m in frequently, constantly changing it to get it to travel at the correct speed. This was an issue for me on v14.3.4. It seems like they’re just a little inconsistent.

Terrible Parking

Parking attempts on v14.3.5 were not good. There are quite a few people who have said this:

David Moss, the Tesla owner who has taken multiple coast-to-coast drives without any interventions, also has had some issues with parking early on with v14.3.5:

New Features

Tesla has added the ability to open Camera Preview at any time. Previously, it was only available in Park. Here’s what that feature looks like in action:

Check back later this week for a longer review of what we’ve noticed on Full Self-Driving v14.3.5.

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Tesla makes the cut on California’s newest EV Rebate program

California just signed a $270 million EV rebate into law and it starts this summer.

Published

12 hours ago

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July 13, 2026

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tesla fremont

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 168 into law on Monday, July 13, 2026, creating a $270 million EV rebate program that delivers money directly at the dealership rather than as a tax credit applied months later. The program, called MyFirstEV, is funded equally by California’s state budget and participating automakers, with each contributing $135.5 million to make the math work.

The timing is directly tied to the loss of federal support when the $7,500 federal EV tax credit ended, removing the most significant consumer incentive that had driven EV adoption in the U.S. California, which accounts for roughly one-third of all EVs sold nationally, moved to fill that gap with a state-level replacement.

The rebate structure is straightforward. First-time EV buyers can receive $3,500 off any new battery-electric vehicle with an MSRP up to $50,000. Used EVs priced at $25,000 or below qualify for a $1,750 rebate. The credit is applied at the point of sale, which removes the friction of the old federal system where buyers had to wait for tax season to see the benefit. The program goes live later this summer, with the California Air Resources Board expected to release full participation details next month.

California hits Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi driverless cars with new law

For Tesla buyers, the implications are mixed. The Tesla Model 3 RWD at $42,490 and the Model 3 Long Range at $47,490 both fall under the $50,000 cap and would qualify for the full $3,500 rebate for first-time buyers. The Model Y, which starts at $44,990 after Tesla’s recent price adjustment, also qualifies. The Model X, Model S, and Cybertruck all exceed the cap and receive no benefit. As Teslarati has reported, the program also includes a carve-out exempting California-based automakers like Rivian and Lucid from the price cap entirely, a provision that puts Tesla at a disadvantage since it relocated its headquarters to Texas in 2021.

Other qualifying vehicles include the Chevrolet Equinox EV, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and Volkswagen ID.4.

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