• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, January 20, 2015

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) confirmed Tuesday that it has raised $1 billion in funding in a round that includes new investors Google and Fidelity. The two were joined by existing investors Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Valor Equity Partners and Capricorn.

Google and Fidelity get an ownership stake just under 10% in exchange for their investment, the company said.

Reports broke earlier this week that SpaceX, the space exploration start-up led by Elon Musk, could take on Google as an investor. The $1 billion investment would value SpaceX at about $10 billion. It would give Google the tools to offer Internet access from virtually anywhere via satellite.

The Information originally reported that Google would invest in SpaceX to support a satellite project. Musk discussed the project with Bloomberg, which is being run out of a recently opened office in Seattle. It will support hundreds of micro-satellites operating in low orbit to offer faster communication compared with traditional satellites.