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SpaceX eyes $15 billion in 2024 sales on Starlink strength

A rocket launches before dawn.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft with four astronauts aboard lifts off Aug. 26 from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., bound for the International Space Station.
(Eva Marie Uzcategui / Getty Images)
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SpaceX is on track to book revenue of about $9 billion this year across its rocket launch and Starlink businesses, according to people familiar with the matter, with sales projected to rise to about $15 billion in 2024.

Sales for Starlink, in particular, are expected to outpace and exceed the launch business next year as the product becomes available in more regions around the world, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Starlink will then represent the majority of SpaceX’s revenue, the people said.

The figures are a rare look into the finances of the Elon Musk-led company, which sells commercial space on its reusable rockets as well as internet access beamed through a constellation of satellites. It also has deals with NASA to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station and run resupply missions.

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A tender offer at SpaceX earlier this year valued the company at about $150 billion, Bloomberg previously reported. That compares with a $137-billion valuation reported in January when SpaceX raised $750 million from investors.

SpaceX is on track to register 2023 earnings, excluding some items, of more than $3 billion, some of the people said. The Information previously reported on the projected operating profit and pegged projected 2023 revenue at about $8 billion, double the previous year’s revenue.

SpaceX’s launch of its massive Starship rocket blasted concrete up to 6.5 miles away and resulted in more than 300 acres of debris, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

April 26, 2023

Representatives for the company, formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp., did not respond to requests for comment.

Starlink offers a high-speed internet connection for a monthly fee and a one-time charge for the ground receiver hardware needed to connect to its satellite constellation.

Musk previously said that spinning off Starlink in a public listing could be possible as its cash flows become more predictable. The company has pledged billions of dollars to build out the network.

For next year, Starlink will account for more than $10 billion in total sales, according to one of the people. Musk has said there will be a cap to how much money the launch business will make, while Starlink could eventually reach revenue of $30 billion a year.

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Although financial details have been sparse for the closely held company, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, said earlier this year that it had already achieved a positive cash flow quarter and would make money this year. Last week, Musk posted on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter, that Starlink had reached the break-even point in cash flow.

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