SpaceX's Starlink made $1.4 bn last year as it eyes India market

New Delhi, Sep 14

Elon Musk-run satellite internet service Starlink, which is searching for various routes to somehow enter the growing Indian internet market, generated $1.4 billion revenue last year.

This is up from $222 million in 2021 but $11 billion short of its original projections, according to the documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

"Revenue at Elon Musk's satellite-internet business has jumped but has fallen short of plans," the report said late on Wednesday.

SpaceX's satellite-internet division has outpaced rivals, generated surging revenue and played a pivotal role in Ukraine. However, "the business still has a long way to go before living up to Chief Executive Elon Musk's ambitions," the report added.

The company initially predicted that Starlink would make $12 billion and $7 billion in operating profit in 2022.

SpaceX also projected 20 million subscribers by the end of 2022 but it reached only over 1 million active subscribers by that time.

By May 2023, it had about 1.5 million users. SpaceX now controls 60 per cent share of the global launch business, as Musk aims to bring Starlink, which uses low-orbit satellites to provide broadband internet connections, to India.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June in the US, Musk said he hopes to bring Starlink internet to the country as soon as possible.

"I am incredibly excited about the future of India. I think India has more promise than any large country in the world," the billionaire had commented. Starlink "can be incredibly helpful" in remote villages that have no internet or lack high-speed services, Musk added.

According to reports, Starlink officials are set to meet their Indian counterparts in the coming weeks to explore its entry into the country.