CEO Gwynne Shotwell told lawmakers in Texas on Tuesday that SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet network should reach a new customer milestone this week
She told a state House Appropriations Committee meeting, “By the way, this week, we will pass 4 million customers for Starlink, which is pretty exciting.” (SpaceX confirmed the vital event on Thursday.)
If SpaceX hits this goal, it will have added a million new customers since the end of May. Starlink began offering beta services for its product in October 2020; it reached 1 million users in December 2022, 2 million in September 2023, and 3 million in May 2024. This is even faster than the company’s already impressive rate of growth. There are now almost 6,000 satellites in the constellation, and service is offered to people and businesses like cruise lines and major airlines in nearly 100 countries.
According to Quilty Space, an industry research and consulting company, the service will make $6.6 billion this year. This is more than double the $1.4 billion it made just two years ago.
SpaceX’s primary goal is to make space travel and business more profitable. Starlink is a vital part of this plan. The company has kept getting money from investors, but CEO Elon Musk has said for years that the broadband internet service would help pay for more work on Starship, the considerable rocket that can be used more than once. The company will be able to launch even more Starlink satellites more often once Starship is live.
Without a doubt, Starlink is now the biggest name in satellite internet. Viasat and SES already have big satellites in a higher geostationary orbit and have lost market share since they started offering services. A few other systems are in the works, including Amazon’s Project Kuiper, but they haven’t started going into service yet.
