While Starlink aims to extend to smartphones, offering a paid service for satellite calls, Elon Musk has confirmed that the SpaceX satellite internet network program has finally started generating profitsafter several years of operating at a loss.
Well yes: Starlink operated at a loss for four years, i.e. from the putting into orbit of its first satellite (which took place in 2019) until today. In fact, as The Verge explains, already last year Elon Musk had declared that his project for a satellite internet connection on a global scale was in progress. loss of 20 million dollars per month.
With a tweet of November 2, however, Musk confirmed that, 12 months after the last update, Starlink has reached the “breakeven”, or the parity between expenses and income in SpaceX’s coffers. The news is excellent, because it confirms that Starlink is a sustainable project for the company that created it and that it will most likely be expanded in the coming years.
This will especially please those who live in areas without “standard” internet coverage: on the other hand, it is no mystery that Starlink is used in rural areas of the world (and the United States of America in particular) as a substitute for traditional wired or wireless internet connections. Furthermore, Starlink recently launched a service for campers and vans, which allows digital nomads to always carry their satellite dish with them.
Furthermore, the tycoon South African confirmed that Starlink represents the majority of active satellites on a global scale and that, starting next year, SpaceX will be the company with the highest number of orbital launches in history. Another result of which Musk seems to be proud, without however taking into consideration the problems linked to the enormous number of satellites in orbit in the Low Earth Orbit.