Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, said on Thursday that Starlink, the company’s satellite internet division, has reached cash flow breakeven. Musk stated in 2021 that when SpaceX’s financial flow became somewhat predictable, it would split out and go public with Starlink.
Starlink has rapidly established itself as the largest satellite operator in the world and a competitor to satellite internet companies like Viasat (VSAT.O) and Eutelsat’s recently purchased OneWeb. Since 2019, Starlink has expanded its network in low-Earth orbit to over 5,000 satellites.
In a post on the social networking site X on Thursday, Musk stated, “Starlink is also now a majority of all active satellites and will have launched a majority of all satellites cumulatively from Earth by next year.”
Since last year, Starlink has gained attention due to its role in supplying Ukraine with satellite communications essential to its military operations against Russia.
Last month, following a telephone and internet blackout that cut off residents of the Gaza Strip from the outside world and from one another, Musk declared that Starlink would facilitate communication linkages in Gaza with “internationally recognized aid organizations.”
SpaceX’s most ambitious projects, including the next-generation Starship—a massive reusable rocket that the firm plans to launch to the moon for NASA within the next ten years—will require funding, and Musk has made it clear that the Starlink business unit will be a significant source of that money.
Despite exceeding Musk’s revenue projections by more than six times to $1.4 billion last year, Starlink could not meet them, according to papers cited by the Wall Street Journal in September. SpaceX is one of the most valuable private firms in the world, with a valuation of over $150 billion.