(Reuters) – SpaceX’s satellite internet venture, Starlink, saw its revenue soar to $1.4 billion last year, a more than six-fold increase, according to documents cited by the Wall Street Journal. However, the company fell short of the targets set by CEO Elon Musk.
In a 2015 presentation, the company had projected that Starlink would generate nearly $12 billion in revenue and $7 billion in operating profit in 2022.
Starlink has also experienced slower customer sign-ups than expected. By the end of 2022, the unit had just over a million active subscribers, while the company had initially anticipated reaching 20 million subscribers by that time.
SpaceX has yet to comment on the report.
Starlink gained significant attention in recent times for its role in providing satellite communications to Ukraine amid its war with Russia.
The rapidly expanding network, which consists of over 4,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense in June for its satellite services.
Last year, Musk stated that Starlink would go public once its cash flow becomes reasonably predictable, before the Ukraine conflict arose.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX’s surging revenue helped the company turn a small profit in the first quarter of 2023 after experiencing losses for two consecutive years.
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru)
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
