Well, they need to raise around $10B to get it fully operational, so that might be hard to do privately. Also, perhaps Musk thinks that having public retail in

Well, they need to raise around $10B to get it fully operational, so that might be hard to do privately. Also, perhaps Musk thinks that having public retail investors is worth it. After all, even though they contribute approximately 0% to Tesla's funding, retail investors and owners generate approximately 100% of the hype, online content and general proselytizing. That is, someone will have to defend Starlink from accusations that it has ruined the sky, and Musk alone can't do it.