SpaceX’s initial public offering last Friday was the biggest IPO in history, raising $75 billion to value the company at around $1.77 trillion. Ahead of the IPO, the Washington Post broke down SpaceX’s business filings that showed the company lost “nearly $4.3 billion in the first three months of 2026,” has a “history of net losses,” and is a business that consists of a “fast-growing, profitable internet service provider, Starlink, combined with an unprofitable and not fast-growing commercial rocket, AI and social media businesses.”
With all this in mind, let’s take a look at the profitable part of SpaceX’s business – Starlink – and how this IPO could impact everyday Americans who rely on the service.
Starlink
Starlink is a satellite-based internet service that began in 2015 and has since launched a network of over 10,000 active satellites, serving millions of users around the globe. The company is projecting big growth this year and aiming to “one day carry the majority of Internet traffic.” In its recent filing to prepare for the IPO, the company stated it has a potential customer base of 3.3 billion users. A Morningstar report predicts that Starlink will “continue as the primary cash generation engine and internal funding source for other ambitious projects [SpaceX] has underway in the medium term” and that Starlink’s “revenue and profits [will] compound at a high rate, supported by its unmatched ability to provide connectivity in remote areas worldwide.”
Many of Starlink’s users are in rural areas where the service is the only real option for internet access. While many customers appreciate the service, they are also frustrated that when the company decides to raise prices – as it recently announced it would for nearly 3 million U.S. users – they don’t have any other option but to pay up. As one rural Nebraska customer, who is facing a 44% increase in their monthly bill, told the Washington Post, “Once they have rural customers on their service with no meaningful alternatives, they’re free to raise prices at will.” SpaceX going public may put even more pressure on Starlink to make up for the losses in other areas of its business, now that the company must publicly disclose its financial state.
No alternatives
In the past few years, Starlink has been lobbying against federal spending on alternative broadband options, claiming the connectivity issue has “effectively been solved.” The company argues that its satellites are more cost-effective and will continue to “become more capable over time.” Critics point out that although Starlink frequently markets itself as altruistic by providing a crucial service to “the most remote or devastated areas,” it remains a profit-driven corporation. As one Reddit user put it, “I suppose it’s a good business model. They now have a population of dependent people with no other choices so they can do whatever they want until/if a competitor comes.”
Starlink isn’t unique in its business model as it is essentially operating like a traditional telecom company in that it “uses its market dominance to box out potential competition and lock in increasingly dissatisfied consumers.” In addition to locking in rural customers by dissuading alternative infrastructure, other satellite communication companies have found it difficult to get off the ground – literally – without first giving in to SpaceX’s demands as the primary rocket launcher in the world. And ProPublica reported in early 2025 that SpaceX’s decision to ship 4,000 Starlink terminals to the FAA to help upgrade its system at no cost to the government could be a play to hook the government on its service and skirt around the required competitive bidding process.
