SpaceX gets boost from Google, Fidelity

If a recent SpaceX mission didn't go exactly according to plan, it's all systems go for the company's latest funding round.

The space exploration company said Tuesday that it has raised $1 billion and added Google (GOOG) and Fidelity as investors.

The California company, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, says the Internet search giant and financial services company together will own just under 10 percent of the business. SpaceX's other investors are venture capital firms Capricorn, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Founders Fund, and buyout firm Valor Equity Partners.

SpaceX designs and makes rockets and spacecraft. It was founded in 2002 with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. Its spacecraft has been used to deliver goods to the International Space Station.

Google and other broadband giants are exploring offering high-speed Internet service from space using satellites or drones.

SpaceX says it plans to use the funds from its latest financing round to continue innovation.

Not that SpaceX has the field to itself. Virgin Group said this week that it is teaming with mobile hardware maker Qualcomm (QCOM) on a project to blast hundreds of satellites into space to deliver broadband service.

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