Calling SpaceX an out-of-the box company would probably be an understatement. Elon Musk and the company itself comes up with ideas that no one else can thread up, bringing forth innovation and futurism. One of those futuristic projects that SpaceX has underplayed till now, is the Starlink broadband system. Starlink, for those of you somehow unaware, is a proposed constellation of satellites over earth that will help provide faster internet at cheaper prices to people who still don’t have access to a right as basic as information.
And now, there’s a fresh new addition to the already impressive, thrilling Starlink story.
According to a Bloomberg report, Starlink, under which around 240 satellites have already been sent into orbit, could be looking at an initial public offering. And while Elon Musk hasn’t been in too much of a favor of inviting public scrutiny over SpaceX and its financials, Starlink could be moved out of the company as a SpinOff, to have its own separate identity, and eventually an IPO.
Due to the edge that the system has against its competitors and the Elon Musk logo that comes with it, Starlink could actually turn out to be a potentially high value IPO. And all of this was apparantly reference to by SpaceX President Gwyne Shotwell at a private investor event hosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Miami.
“Right now, we are a private company, but Starlink is the right kind of business that we can go ahead and take public,” said Shotwell, SpaceX’s chief operating officer. “That particular piece is an element of the business that we are likely to spin out and go public.”
Under Starlink, plans are to make fast internet available to each and every person on the globe, at cheaper rates so even finances don’t get in the way of information. The company is planning to start its services in the US by summer and will be able to go global after just 4 more launches.
On being asked why Starlink is the way of the future, Shotwell noted that the internet provided by the platform will be 5 to 10 times faster than the one we have right now, with rates that will not leave a hole in your pocket.
SpaceX, however, is not likely to go public until it is regularly ferrying people to Mars, as was announced by Musk himself.
