Quilty Analytics, a boutique firm for research, strategy, and inevstment banking advisory to the Satellite & Space industry, has issued to subscribers the latest edition of its Satcom Quarterly Briefing, that delves into SpaceX Starlink, its achievements to date, market focus, and the role the system is likely to play in fulfilling SpaceX’s ambitions to colonize Mars. The Starlink evaluation includes an assessment of the prime broadband markets most likely to drive success of new commercial LEO satellite systems.
“With over 1,000 satellites on orbit and favorable reviews from man. “With Starlink’s investment program likely to exceed $10 billion over time, we sought to address the pivotal question of where SpaceX will focus its resources and what impact it will have.”
Quilty Analytics concluded that:
- Starlink, being an end-to-end/retail service provider, will likely have to generate yearly revenues that exceed the global satcom industry’s total broadband data revenues today in order to generate attractive investment returns; and,
- Given current trends in technology and strong motivations in developed countries to quickly close their respective “digital divides” (highlighted by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic), there could be upwards of 15 million consumer satellite broadband subscribers worldwide by 2030 (and potentially as many as 30 million). The substantial potential for consumer markets is predicated on global networks, high-performance, and low-latency – and assumes cost-effective equipment and service.
The Quilty Analytics team would like to thank the many companies and experts whose timely input contributed to our findings. We hope this briefing stimulates discussion and we look forward to receiving comments from friends and colleagues across our industry.