WASHINGTON — SpaceX’s ambitious Starlink satellite network is exceeding expectations at a blistering pace, according to a new report by Quilty Space, a market research and consulting firm.
The report, discussed by Quilty Space analysts on a webinar May 9, forecasts Starlink is on track to generate a staggering $6.6 billion in revenue for 2024, defying industry skepticism and rewriting the future of satellite internet.
“Back in 2015, when SpaceX and OneWeb announced these mega-constellations, many industry veterans scoffed,” said Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space.
“They remembered past satellite broadband ventures failing in the 1990s.” Industry watchers expected Starlink to make a mark, but not to this degree, he noted.
SpaceX in May 2019 launched the first 60 Starlink satellites on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.
Fast forward to today, and Starlink boasts a constellation of nearly 6,000 satellites, with over 5,200 operational and beaming internet access to 2.7 million subscribers across 75 countries. SpaceX is a private company and Starlink’s financials are not publicly available. The company’s rapid growth prompted Quilty Space to delve deeper into what is driving Starlink’s performance.
“Starlink’s achievements over the past three years are mind-blowing,” said Quilty.
“We’re projecting a revenue jump from $1.4 billion in 2022 to $6.6 billion in 2024.”
To put that in perspective, the combined revenue of the two largest geostationary satellite operators, SES and Intelsat, which recently announced a merger, is around $4.1 billion. Source: Space News
