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Starlink accounted for 69% of SpaceX revenue pre-merger and is speculated to be already profitable including launch costs. And this is all before they launch a
by oceanplexian 3mo ago
Starlink accounted for 69% of SpaceX revenue pre-merger and is speculated to be already profitable including launch costs.
And this is all before they launch a phone or something, or replace global fiber interconnect with a lower latency space-based alternative, replace all forms of space based telecommunications (TV, Satellite Radio, etc). Starlink is a $1T+ business without even getting creative.
- nwah1 3mo agoFor context, that revenue was $18.67 billion in 2025, with a net loss of $4.94 billion. And we must remember that 6G is in the final stages of development, which has peak speeds of 1 Tbps.
- mlindner 3mo agoStarlink by itself does not have a net loss.
- zdragnar 3mo ago6G will have worse physical penetration than 5G, which makes it worthless in rural areas where 5G is already severely inhibited by tree leaves.
- markdown 3mo ago> in rural areas where 5G is already severely inhibited by tree leaves. This is not a problem in Africa and India.
- ben_w 3mo agoYou need an /s or a /jk or people will take you seriously. https://www.google.de/maps/place/Nairobi,+Kenya/@-1.2745409,36.8028116,3a,75y,145.58h,92.31t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sQBulD_Hw2fgAESsTmdi-KQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-2.3111237906325073%26panoid%3DQBulD_Hw2fgAESsTmdi-KQ%26yaw%3D145.58426652960952!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x182f1172d84d49a7:0xf7cf0254b297924c!8m2!3d-1.2920659!4d36.8219462!16zL20vMDVkNDk!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDcwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D https://www.google.de/maps/place/Nairobi,+Kenya/@-1.2745409,...
- markdown 3mo agoI didn't mean to say there were no trees or leaves in those places, because of course they have massive tropical and subtropical forests. In most of the world, if a some leaves are in the way, it's quite simple to remove the leaves.
- KeplerBoy 3mo agoIt's not that simple. Yes, newer standards push for higher frequencies to get more bandwidth, but 5G for example also uses the old sub GHz bands with excellent range and penetration.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- Cyberdog 3mo agoWill sending bits to space and back really be faster than fiber? How?
- bamboozled 3mo agoWith positive thinking and maximum upside ?
- davrosthedalek 3mo agoLightspeed in air is close to c_vacuum. Light speed in fiber is roughly 2/3 c_vacuum. So for transatlantic it might be faster.
- rckclmbr 3mo agoLet’s see if we can bring the cost of hollow core fiber down, it would be faster transatlantic even
- db48x 3mo agoOften the bigger difference is just that fiber never goes in a straight line, even if it’s going to the right city. All that pesky geography gets in the way and makes the path longer.
- dizhn 3mo agoAs far as I can tell it almost exclusively follows the existing roads in Europe. Probably an easier way to secure rights in one go like rails used to be for telco lines.
- inemesitaffia 3mo agoPipelines, Sewer systems, rail too.
- db48x 3mo agoGeography and property lines, twin banes of every infrastructure builder.
- laughing_man 3mo agoStarlink made a $4 bn profit last year, and is apparently growing 30% YoY.
- ben_w 3mo agoStarlink isn't billed for the cost of launches. https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/06/29/spacex-secret-launch-subsidy-makes-starlink-profit/ https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/06/29/spacex-secret-laun...
- laughing_man 3mo agoInteresting. I didn't realize that.
- inemesitaffia 3mo agoIt's not true. It's billed at cost. Not at price.
- yesplorer 3mo agoFrom Space X prospectus: For launches of our Starlink satellites, the Company does not recognize any inter-segment revenue, rather those launch costs are capitalized in satellites in Property, plant, and equipment, net. We allocate a significant amount of launch capacity to our Connectivity segment, and expect to allocate a significant amount to our AI segment in the future. Our Space segment revenue only reflects our customer launches and customer activities. For launches dedicated to deploying our Starlink satellites, we capitalize the associated costs within our Connectivity segment and depreciate them over time, and we do not recognize revenue for those launches in our Space segment.
- inemesitaffia 3mo agoThere's no dispute there with what I said. The launch cost for Starlink is in the connectivity segment. It has to go somewhere on your balance sheet and you can't magic it away. If you manufacture cement and you also sell premixed concrete in another division it's a similar thing. Or any other company that sells both raw material and finished product. Here they are saying it's in the connectivity segment costs instead of them buying it at retail. That's all there is. That's how analysts can estimate launch costs ~$20MM and $600k for satellites as opposed to the idea that launch is $0 for Starlink and the cost is hidden in the space segment.
- Lomlioto 3mo agoYeah but it doesn't become a Trillion dollar business if they don't solve the Starlink Satelite v3 issue. They need Starship to be able to send v3 up, without v3 it doesn't scale well enough. Starship still hasn't proven it can actually bring up the relevant payload high enough and they need it to be reusable otherwise costs will increase. And they already exist and only have 10 Million customers. They need to get countries on their side like India but these countries are not stupid. Elon Musk showed them very clearly what he can do like his statements he did when Ukraine war started.