By
Svetlana Soroka
April 18th, 2024
While SpaceX is ramping up plans to get the internet service up for the market, the customer interest in the service is surging with about 700,000 people currently.
SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk have mulled the possibility of taking SpaceX’ Starlink Satellite internet service. Making this known via a tweet, Elon Musk responded to a user’s query asking to take Starlink Satellite public with a prompt disclosure to retail investors.
We will probably IPO Starlink, but only several years in the future when revenue growth is smooth & predictable. Public market does *not* like erratic cash flow haha. I’m a huge fan of small retail investors. Will make sure they get top priority. You can hold me to it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 28, 2020
There have been indicated interests to take Starlink Satellite public as key executives of the business noted that the satellite outfit’s business model is such that would attract public interest. Back in February, SpaceX president, Gwynne Shotwell said that “Starlink is the right kind of business that we can go ahead and take public,” stating further that the company can achieve the feat.
While Elon Musk has not really been much of a fan of taking SpaceX and its associated businesses public, he acknowledged not putting the Starlink subsidiary in a position where the outfit would become bankrupt when compared to companies who have tried to launch a satellite internet service in the past. However, Musk sees the potential in taking the Starlink Satellite public, because it can serve as a “way for SpaceX to generate revenue that can be used to develop more and more advanced rockets and spaceships,” Musk told reporters last year
About SpaceX’s Starlink Satellite Internet Service
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation being constructed by SpaceX. Starlink represents SpaceX’s ambitious plan to build and launch an interconnected internet satellite network, also known as a “constellation,” to beam high-speed internet anywhere on the planet. The full Starlink network would consist of 11,943 satellites flying close to the planet, closer than the International Space Station, in what is known as low Earth orbit.
Billed to send internet signals anywhere on the planet, SpaceX in addition to the commercial dissemination of its network services plans to sell some of the satellites for military, scientific, or exploratory purposes.
As reported by CNBC, SpaceX has launched about 700 Starlink satellites to date and it has started the private beta testing of the satellites. This test has revealed that the internet speeds are capable of streaming movies, playing online video games as well as in downloading. The public testing of the internet service would commence as soon as private testing is wrapped up.
While SpaceX is ramping up plans to get the internet service up for the market, CNBC reports that customer interest in the service is surging with about 700,000 people currently with indicated interest in the Starlink offering.