Starlink is falling short of promises made to investors eight years ago — by about $10.6 billion in annual revenue.
The satellite internet division of spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX is operating in a world that is more complex than what founder Elon Musk might have envisioned almost a decade ago.
According to internal documents reviewed by the WSJ, Starlink made $1.4 billion in revenue for 2022. Yet in 2015, a presentation used to attract investors to SpaceX said its satellite division would be making $12 billion in revenue and $7 billion in operating profit by the same year.
Space X is privately held, which makes its financial records difficult to access, as opposed to Elon Musk's publicly listed electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. With a recent valuation of $150 billion, investors looking at sectors like telecommunications and space exploration are closely monitoring SpaceX with expectations of it going public. Musk said in 2021 that Starlink alone will IPO once cash flow becomes reasonably predictable.
Starlink’s Financial Picture: The company is still operating at a loss. In 2022 SpaceX lost $559 million against ...