Starlink’s Economic and Military Potential
Elon Musk's SpaceX is now earning most of its revenues from its satellite internet constellation. This technology is the first new major commercial application of reusable rockets.
Starlink is a satellite internet service provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. With just under 10,000 satellites in Earth orbit as of March 2026, Starlink is not just the largest and most advanced satellite internet constellation but, by volume, the single largest satellite operator on the planet: Starlink satellites account for roughly two-thirds of all active satellites in orbit of any kind.1 With the first Starlink launch occurring only in 2019, this feat has been achieved thanks to over 300 launches of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 reusable medium-lift rocket since then.2 SpaceX has greatly decreased the cost of launching mass to orbit, to the point of constituting nearly 90% of all mass launched to orbit worldwide in 2024, and has used this capability to rapidly build out Starlink.3 Starlink has, in turn, become SpaceX’s key source of revenue. In 2025, SpaceX reportedly generated $8 billion in profit on around $15 billion of revenue, with an estimated 69% of revenue coming from Starlink.4 Starlink is poised to be one of the key sources of cashflow to fund Musk’s lofty ambitions in space expansion and artificial intelligence.