Falcon Heavy’s first commercial flight is ‘huge’ as ‘an inflection point’ for SpaceX, banker says

[Elderberry]

CNBC by Michael Sheetz 4/13/2019

Key Points

    For all the power SpaceX’s rocket Falcon Heavy’s had question remained of whether Falcon Heavy would succeed in both winning contracts and launching valuable payloads.

    “To actually classify a launch as commercial, not as a test, is huge,” Ann Kim, managing director of Silicon Valley Bank’s frontier technology group, told CNBC.

    “Revenue creation is so important because it confirms that there are buyers out there,” Kim added.

Even though it wasn’t the rocket’s debut, “there’s been a lot of anticipation” for the massive Falcon Heavy rocket’s first commercial launch, said Ann Kim, a managing director at Silicon Valley Bank.

SpaceX flew Falcon Heavy flawlessly on Thursday, putting into orbit a large Saudi Arabian communications satellite. But to Kim, while the launch’s execution may have been as dazzling as its maiden flight last year, the classification of Falcon Heavy’s second flight made it far more important.

“To actually classify a launch as commercial, not as a test, is huge,” Ann Kim, managing director of the bank’s frontier technology group, told CNBC. Silicon Valley Bank is a New York City-based technology-focused bank, with $57 billion in assets as of the end of 2018.

“It’s an inflection point,” Kim added.

Indeed, SpaceX’s successes have meant investors continue to flood in, as the company’s valuation is reportedly now at least $30.5 billion. Shares of SpaceX also remain in heavy demand on private markets.

More: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/13/spacex-revenue-inflection-point-for-falcon-heavy-second-flight-banker.html