ILON MASK: STARLINK NEEDS $ 30 BILLION TO AVOID BANKRUPTCY

In the framework of the MWC 2021 technical exhibition in Barcelona,   which was held on Tuesday, Elon Musk said that the main goal of Starlink is to avoid bankruptcy.  According to the CEO of SpaceX, this may require investments in the range of $ 20 billion to $ 30 billion.

Starlink is a constellation of internet satellites that needs to survive to enter the global market. Musk has previously stated that bankruptcy prevention was a major challenge which is usually faced by any high-speed satellite communications business.

According to the billionaire, the business loses significant sums of money manufacturing terminals. They provide Starlink users with broadband communications from satellites located in the earth's orbit.

It costs about $ 1,000 to make a separate device, said Musk, while the company sells them for $ 499, supplementing its revenue with a $ 99 monthly subscription.

The company plans to release an updated model of equipment, the cost of which will be reduced in price. Musk said that the corresponding partnership contracts with two large organizations of the US have already been signed, but did not disclose their names. Earlier, he tweeted a message that 69,420 people have been using Starlink's services.

Starlink is just a part of Musk’s space company SpaceX. In order to provide people from remote parts of the planet with the communication from satellites, it is necessary to launch about 42 thousand spacecraft. As of May, nearly 1,500 satellites are already in orbit.

In June, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell spoke about Starlink’s ability to cover the planet by fall 2021. During MWC 2021, Musk said that this could be achieved a month earlier, as early as August of this year.

Despite the optimism of the business owner, Starlink continues to raise many questions from critics.

First of all, many people doubt the stable work of equipment that is sensitive to weather conditions and high temperatures. Musk says the system will be able to serve 5% of all users of the global computer network, generating up to $ 30 billion in revenue annually. But the price of the service continues to be very expensive for a significant part of the world's population, which has a need for high-quality digital communications.