SpaceX, Elon Musk’s private space company that – essentially – pioneered the idea of creating reusable rockets, is set to be the third biggest private tech company in the US. Only Uber and Airbnb stand in its way to the top spot as the company’s valuation sits at over $27 billion (£19.6 billion).

According to Equidate, SpaceX is currently looking to raise an additional $500 million in capital. If this round of funding is completed, SpaceX’s value will have made a massive leap of 25% in the last nine months. While that’s certainly a big achievement, SpaceX has also managed to more than double its valuation since 2015.

Musk started SpaceX out of his own pocket in 2002 and, with this latest round of funding, it’s likely he’ll be able to take the company down a route he’s been musing for a little while. Despite refusing to share details around what its plans are for the money raised via funding rounds, it’s likely we’ll see an investment into a dedicated satellite manufacturing plant. This plant would then lead towards Musk’s goal of creating a satellite-based space communications network.

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It’s also likely Musk could use the money to help fund the new factory SpaceX is building for its Big Falcon Rocket.

One reason for SpaceX’s phenomenal growth is its partnership with NASA to help supply the ISS and launch satellites. It’s this partnership that helped create both the reusable Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon spacecraft. Falcon 9 is also easily the company’s most valuable asset, delivering over a billion dollars in revenue each year.

SpaceX isn’t the only private company working in space logistics, there’s Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic to name just a couple. SpaceX is, however, the largest. It created an industry for space and, arguably, saved the likes of NASA from its lack of government funding by still allowing it to continue working in space.