Satellite internet is a booming market, and Starlink is leading the race. Although the financial details behind SpaceX’s Starlink division remain largely unknown to the public, some numbers have been leaked, allowing us to get a better idea of where the company stands.
Bloomberg originally reported the leaked financial information from several anonymous sources inside of SpaceX. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Starlink will eventually become the main revenue source for SpaceX by as early as next year.
In total, SpaceX plans to pull in around $9 billion in 2023, with a little less than half of that attributed to Starlink sales. For 2024, Starlink is projected to account for a majority of SpaceX’s $15 billion revenue target. According to the anonymous Bloomberg sources, SpaceX’s rocket launching business will soon hit a revenue growth cap, while Starlink will continue to expand. Starlink sales could hit $10 billion in 2024, with a potential to grow to $30 billion a year in the future.
Starlink started selling satellite internet services in a limited public beta in late 2020, as their low earth orbit satellite constellation was in the early deployment stages. At the time of this article, Starlink now has around 5,000 satellites deployed, with an additional 7,000 approved for launch in the coming years. As the satellite constellation expands, service availability and performance will improve, fueling revenue growth. Starlink services are offered globally, from basic home internet access, all the way to enterprise airline services.
The rare look into Starlink’s financials joins a recent announcement by Elon Musk, that Starlink had reached breakeven cash flow:
This is all good news for SpaceX and Starlink fans, as well as their private investors. Elon Musk has previously stated that Starlink could spin off as a publicly traded company at some point, depending on how well the division does financially. For Starlink customers, healthy financials could mean improved performance, technology innovation, and expanded availability.
Starlink must improve customer support and it MUST be USA based !
WOW! That’s a lot of revenue and, hopefully, positive cash flow and profit.
I am happy to hear that Starlink is faring well financially. However, some of that bounty should really be invested in customer service. Starlink really MUST update their model to include support options beyond the slow-moving online ticketing system. Live Chat would be stellar. A live support phone number, intergalatic!
I agree, customer support is one of their biggest problems, and they have the revenue to solve at least that one issue.