Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, has made a significant announcement regarding the affordability of Starlink, the space internet service. He revealed that Starlink has reached a financial milestone by achieving breakeven cash flow. This is a notable development considering that just last year, Musk had reported that Starlink was incurring losses of approximately $20 million each month.
The achievement of breakeven cash flow suggests that Starlink's financial performance has improved to the point where its revenues now cover its operational costs, indicating a more sustainable financial outlook for the service. This is likely to be welcomed news for both SpaceX and the customers who rely on Starlink for their internet connectivity.
“I’m excited to announce that SpaceX’s Starlink has achieved breakeven cash flow. Excellent work by a great team,” said Musk.
“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,” the billionaire posted on X.
The upcoming satellite internet service, poised to make its foray into the rapidly expanding Indian internet market, achieved a remarkable revenue of $1.4 billion in the previous year. This substantial leap signifies a significant surge from the $222 million it garnered in 2021, although it fell short of its initial projections by a margin of $11 billion, as detailed in reports.
Currently, approximately 5,000 Starlink satellites are in active operation within the confines of low-Earth orbit, with ambitious plans to launch an additional 37,000 satellites into the cosmos. SpaceX, under the leadership of Elon Musk, sets an impressive target of conducting 12 launches each month, effectively translating to a launch frequency of less than three days.
The primary objective is to populate the expanse of outer space with an extensive network of Starlink satellites to bolster the forthcoming satellite-based cell phone service. The initial launch, scheduled for next year, will introduce a texting-only service, with voice and data capabilities slated for implementation in 2025 and beyond.
In the previous year, SpaceX made 61 successful missions, and in the last 12 months, they have notched up an impressive tally of over 88 rocket launches. In addition, a crucial test flight of SpaceX's significantly larger Starship rocket, aimed at potential Mars missions, was successfully executed during this period.
(With Agency Inputs)
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