The human race continues to shoot for the stars, with Elon Musk's Starlink poised to earn big in 2025.
The space race is firing on all thrusters, as it's Musk vs Bezos and SpaceX vs Blue Ocean. Launched as a subsidiary of Musk's SpaceX in 2019, Starlink aims to connect the world as a 'satellite internet constellation'.
Promising to bring internet to remote or underprivileged regions of the globe and even the world's first private space station, Starlink has previously come under fire for everything from safety to environmental concerns. Still, as Starlink powers ahead, it seems like Musk's Midas touch could see its revenue boom.
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Market research firm Quilty Space forecasts (via SpaceNews) that Starlink could bring in as much as $11.8 billion in revenue in 2025.
This is quite the boost from 2024's reported $7.7 billion revenue. This is attributed to massive growth in the satellite communications market.
It comes after Quilty Space previously highlighted a $537 million Pentagon contract for Starlink to assist Ukraine’s military forces into 2027.
This is another of Starlink's controversies, with SpaceX executives saying it needs to remain a civilian network and reports that Russian forces have tried to disrupt Starlink's services in Ukraine.
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In terms of Starlink's projected 2025 revenue, it can be broken down into $1.3 billion in hardware sales, $7.5 billion from consumer services, and $3 billion from U.S. government contracts. These government deals are said to include satellite sales to the National Reconnaissance Office and Space Development Agency.
Starlink is currently powering high-speed internet access via over 7,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, although there are complaints of market dominance.
Musk's spacefaring company has secured 97% of task orders from the U.S. Space Force’s Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) program, while the $537 million Ukraine contract is said to have been awarded under the PLEO.
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The military is able to buy satellite services from commercial providers, and with its ceiling being lifted from $900 million to $13 billion, Starlink is reaping the rewards. Quilty writes: "Starlink is now seen as an indispensable asset throughout the entire government sector, from U.S. embassies to the battlefield.
"Starlink’s government sector momentum shows no sign of a slowdown."
Even though Starlink is tipped to keep market dominance for the next few years, Quilty notes that Amazon’s Project Kuiper could soon be snapping at its heels. Project Kuiper is yet to deploy, but the Federal Communications Commission granted permission to launch 3,236 satellites into low Earth orbit. Amazon is required to launch and operate 50% of its satellites before the end of July 2026, while the other 50% have to be up and running by July 30, 2029.