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Starlink IPO

Everything you need to know about Starlink

Elon Musk’s satellite and telecommunications business Starlink is attracting interest as a prospective IPO candidate. Although the company hasn’t formally announced plans for an initial public offering, it’s possible that a listing could take place in the next couple of years. Find out everything you need to know about the SpaceX subsidiary, its potential IPO and how you can get involved.

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What is Starlink?

Starlink is a satellite constellation that provides internet access. Wholly owned by Elon Musk’s aerospace and rocket company SpaceX, Starlink operates a network of more than 7,000 satellites that it claims could deliver high-speed broadband anywhere on the planet. Starlink has secured regulatory approval to provide in-motion aviation services in over 100 countries.

When is Starlink’s IPO date?

Starlink hasn’t set an official IPO date. In June 2021 SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Starlink will only have an IPO “when its cash flow is more predictable”, according to a report by CNBC.

What is Starlink’s valuation?

There is a lot of speculation around Starlink’s valuation, and most analysts agree that Starlink makes up the majority of its parent company SpaceX’s value. In a December 2024 deal that saw investors buy shares from SpaceX employees, SpaceX was valued at $350bn, making it the world’s most valuable startup. On that basis, Starlink could be worth in excess of $175bn.

How to trade on Starlink’s IPO

1. Register

Decide whether you want to spread bet tax-free* or trade CFDs on Starlink’s upcoming listing.

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2. Pick a trading strategy

Decide whether to buy (go long) if you think Starlink will increase in value or sell (go short) if you think it will decrease.

3. Read our risk-management guide

Find out how to combat stock market risk by placing stop-loss and take-profit orders on open positions.

4.Practise while you wait

Trade on competitor stocks such as Virgin Galactic, ViaSat and Boeing to solidify your knowledge of the space market.

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What are Starlink’s financials?

Back in 2018, SpaceX estimated that the cost of designing, building, and deploying Starlink would be at least $10bn. Starlink first turned a profit, albeit a small one, in 2023, according to Musk. That same year, Bloomberg reported that parent company SpaceX was “on track to book revenue of about $9bn” in 2023 across its rocket launch and Starlink businesses, with sales “projected to rise to around $15bn in 2024”. The report added that sales for Starlink were expected to outpace and exceed those of the launch business in 2024, meaning that Starlink would then account for the majority of SpaceX revenue. Bloomberg’s write-up also highlighted that the figures represented “a rare look into the finances of the Elon Musk-led company”.

Indeed, as a private company SpaceX does not routinely share or publish accounts for its subsidiary Starlink or the business as a whole, so we may have to wait until closer to the IPO date for an opportunity to study Starlink’s financials in more detail.

Why might investors be interested in Starlink?

Starlink has received favourable attention from governmental agencies, winning contracts with NASA and the US Department of Defense. Owner SpaceX, whose rocket launches are supported by Starlink technology, is seen as an innovative company, having carried out its first manned orbital launch in 2020. SpaceX also boasts environmental credentials as its rockets and launch equipment are reusable. CEO Elon Musk has expressed a commitment to making space flight more cost-efficient.

Perhaps most notably, Starlink is a market leader. The launch of Starlink’s 7,000^th satellite in September 2024 meant that Musk controlled nearly two-thirds of all active satellites orbiting Earth at that time, according to an article published online by the Independent. Starlink has “grown by an average of three satellites per day since the first launch in 2019,” the report added.

What are some potential challenges for Starlink?

The satellite internet sector is extremely competitive, partly due to advancements in 5G technology which can offer gigabit-speed internet over a wide area. As competition increases, Starlink will need to keep its services attractive, relevant and reasonably priced.

Starlink’s services may be most appealing in locations with weak broadband connectivity, such as rural and remote areas of the US and Canada. Consumers in these areas may have lower purchasing power than people in urban areas, which could make revenue growth challenging. To combat this, the company would need to offer superior services to target higher-value customers in urban areas.

Satellite constellations also bring risks and negative consequences, such as the possibility of collisions and an increase in light pollution in the night sky. That said, Starlink is mitigating these issues by equipping its satellites with thrusters and tracking data receivers, allowing them to adjust their orbit to avoid collisions. In 2020 Musk announced that Starlink would add sunshades to its satellites to reduce their brightness.

Who are Starlink and SpaceX’s competitors?

Although low earth orbit (LEO) satellites may appear quite niche, the industry is in fact highly competitive. Starlink’s rivals include ViaSat [VSAT], Boeing [BA], Orbcomm [ORBC], Globalstar [GSAT], Iridium [IRDM] and EchoStar [SATS]. You can trade on these stocks with us while you wait for Starlink’s IPO.

Compared to Starlink, most of the above companies have relatively small valuations, typically ranging from around $2bn to $6bn. The exception is Boeing, which has a market capitalisation of more than $120bn. Even so, if and when Starlink goes public it could be the biggest company by market cap in its sector.

Starlink may also face competition from billionaire-backed businesses such as Kuiper, a subsidiary of Amazon, which has been approved to deploy over 3,200 satellites as part of an initiative to build an LEO satellite constellation, according to the company’s website. Another potential rival is Microsoft’s Azure Orbital, a service that connects satellites to Microsoft’s cloud computing platform.

As the space sector continues to expand and evolve, traders should follow industry news and technological developments closely. For more insights, read our guide to the space stocks and ETFs to watch.

*Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and can change or may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.

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