Some US$20 billion or US$30 billion may be needed in the longer term to maintain Starlink’s competitive position, Musk added. The service, which has more than 69,000 active users, may reach half a million in the next 12 months, he said.
Elon Musk’s satellite network Starlink is on track to beam broadband internet everywhere in the world except the polar regions by August.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has launched more than 1,500 satellites so far and has Starlink operations in about a dozen countries, Musk said during a presentation at the Mobile World Congress conference on Tuesday. That’s costing a lot. SpaceX’s total investment in the network will be between US$5 billion ($6.72 billion) and US$10 billion before cash flow is positive, he said.
