Three days after its third launch failure, Space Exploration Technologies, the Hawthorne-based developer of low-cost experimental rockets, announced a $20 million cash infusion.
Founders Fund, a major technology venture capital firm based in San Francisco, invested $20 million in the private rocket firm dubbed SpaceX.
On Saturday, SpaceX suffered its third launch failure after the second stage of the single-engine Falcon 1 did not separate.
SpaceX has hundreds of millions of dollars worth of launch orders from government and commercial customers, even though the company has never completed a successful launch.
On Sunday, in an email to investors, customers, fans and the media, SpaceX founder Elon Musk hinted at the Founders Fund investment.
"As a precautionary measure to guard against the possibility of flight 3 not reaching orbit, SpaceX recently accepted a significant investment," Musk wrote.
Musk also wrote that the launch failure will not affect future launches including the next rocket planned for later this year.
"The most important message I'd like to send right now is that SpaceX will not skip a beat in execution going forward," Musk wrote. "We have flight four of Falcon 1 almost ready for flight and flight five right behind that. I have also given the go ahead to begin fabrication of flight six."
SpaceX also is moving forward with launch preparations next year for its nine-engine Falcon 9 rocket, which recently underwent a successful test firing, Musk wrote.
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