SpaceX boss Elon Musk has denied that the company would be valued at US$150bn as part of a fresh round of funding.
It was reported by Bloomberg that the rocket launch and satellite company "is in talks to raise funds" at a valuation of more than US$150bn.
"False," said Musk on Twitter, where he is also chief executive.
In May the company, where FTSE 100-listed Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC (LSE:SMT) is a major investor, was valued at US$125bn when it drummed up around US$1.5bn, up from a valuation last year of around US$100bn, according to PitchBook.
Yesterday, SpaceX won a US$1.2bn contract extension with NASA for further development of a lunar lander spaceship as part of the agency's ongoing Artemis programme, which saw the first rocket launch this morning.
As part of the 'option B' of its Human Landing System (HLS) contract with NASA, SpaceX will upgrade its Starship lunar lander and fly a second crewed mission to the moon, following an April 2021 contract of US$2.9bn.
If this morning's Artemis I mission to fly astronauts around the moon is successful, a crewed Artemis II flight around the moon and back is planned for 2024, followed within a few more years by the Artemis III mission to land astronauts (back) on the moon.
Option B, it was confirmed last month, will be Artemis 4, a mission that NASA previously planned to devote to work on the lunar Gateway and not include a landing. The lander selected for development under SLD would fly its demonstration mission no earlier than Artemis 5.