The Business of SpaceX's Starlink is ON

In a February 2021 filing[^1] with the the Federal Comunications Commission to become a telecommunications carrier, SpaceX disclosed more than 10k users of their service.

SpaceX has already 500k reservations for Starlink. With a $99 monthly bill, that is a potential revenue of $50 million per month or over $600 million per year.

News – SpaceX says it has received more than 500,000 orders for Starlink satellite internet to date, but the $99 deposits are fully refundable and do not guarantee service.https://t.co/VS8tOrjN7R
— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) May 4, 2021

Elon's clarification:

Only limitation is high density of users in urban areas. Most likely, all of the initial 500k will receive service. More of a challenge when we get into the several million user range.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 4, 2021

SpaceX has launched 26 dedicated Starlink payloads, 60 satellites a pop, into low earth orbit (550 km) so far. These satellites are currently building out the first orbital shell, which will consist of 1600 satellites. That shell is almost complete and will cover approximately 80% of Earth's surface. Completion is expected by June 2021. Later shells will be in higher orbits for higher throughput.

The cost side of the business is getting better with each launch. A new Falcon 9 goes for around $50 million, but re-usability of Falcon 9 rockets dramatically lowers prices. The last launch was a 10th re-flight.

Even though Elon is on a war path with Wall Street and sometimes regrets that Tesla is a public company, he has repeatedly teased to bring Starlink public. Probably because he understands how cheap funding can be if done properly.

It makes sense because the MVP has been demonstrated and is an easy to understand infrastructure play. Now.

Linus Tech Tips with the most important benchmark test: Gaming on STARLINK!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh1a2K9ZgNA

Now You Know shows how convenient the setup is: We Test Elon’s $99 Mobile Internet | In Depth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDEtuKgUw_g

[^1 ]: FCC filing: https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1020316268311/Starlink%20Services%20LLC%20Application%20for%20ETC%20Designation.pdf

Starlink: SpaceX

Starlink: Wikipedia

Background information about previous SpaceX launches: Wikipedia

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