Starlink IPO: revenue, investors, valuation & how to invest

What is Starlink?

Starlink is a satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, designed to deliver high-speed broadband around the world – especially to rural and underserved areas – using a constellation of low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites built and launched by SpaceX itself.

As of early 2026, Starlink operates more than 10,000 active satellites in orbit, making it by far the largest satellite constellation ever assembled – accounting for roughly 65% of all operational satellites in space. SpaceX has long-term plans to scale the constellation to around 12,000 satellites under current authorisations, with potential expansion to 42,000.

Most traditional satellite internet providers use geostationary satellites that orbit at very high altitudes, which causes high latency and slower speeds (because data has to travel huge distances between user and satellite). Starlink’s low-earth-orbit constellation dramatically reduces that latency – delivering speeds typically over 200 Mbps and latency as low as ~25ms – while providing global coverage, including in areas with little or no terrestrial broadband infrastructure.

Starlink has scaled remarkably fast: from around 1 million subscribers in 2022, to 2.3 million by end-2023, 4.6 million by end-2024, 9.2 million by end-2025, and surpassing 10 million active subscribers in February 2026, available across more than 150 countries and markets. It’s now considered the world’s largest satellite internet provider by a wide margin.

For now, Starlink is operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SpaceX (Starlink Services, LLC) rather than as a standalone listed company. However, with SpaceX actively preparing for an IPO in 2026 at a potential valuation of $1-1.75 trillion – driven largely by Starlink’s growth – that’s about to change.

Starlink key company facts

Starlink company statistics

Below is a breakdown of some key figures, including Starlink’s revenue, number of satellites in space, plus top investors and competitors.

Starlink number of satellites

Approximate satellite counts based on publicly reported figures and tracking data; precise active-satellite counts vary slightly by source as satellites are launched and deorbited continuously.

Starlink revenue estimates

Starlink’s competitors

The satellite internet space is competitive, though few rivals come close to Starlink’s scale today. The main players competing with – or aiming to compete with – Starlink include:

• Amazon (Project Kuiper): Amazon’s planned LEO constellation of around 3,200 satellites, with commercial service rolled out in 2025 and growing through 2026 – arguably Starlink’s most credible long-term competitor given Amazon’s resources and AWS integration.
• Eutelsat OneWeb: formed after Eutelsat’s 2023 merger with OneWeb, with around 650 LEO satellites focused on enterprise, government, and aviation customers rather than mass-market consumer broadband.
• Viasat: a US satellite operator (now combined with Inmarsat after the 2023 acquisition) operating geostationary satellites – strong in aviation and maritime, but with higher latency than LEO competitors.
• Geespace: a Chinese player owned by Geely, building the Geesatcom constellation – part of broader Chinese efforts to compete in LEO satellite internet.
• Telesat (Lightspeed): a Canadian operator building a planned 198-satellite LEO constellation, primarily targeting enterprise and government markets, with deployment ramping up.
• IRIS² (European Union): the EU’s planned sovereign LEO constellation, developed with a consortium including Airbus, Thales Alenia Space, SES, Eutelsat, and others – targeting both government and commercial services, with deployment from 2026 onward.
• HughesNet: a long-standing US satellite internet provider, primarily geostationary – established in residential satellite broadband but losing share to LEO competitors.
• Chinese state constellations (Guowang and Qianfan/SpaceSail): two massive Chinese LEO projects targeting 13,000 and 14,000+ satellites respectively – early-stage but strategically significant given the geopolitical dimension.

Despite the growing list of competitors, Starlink retains a substantial first-mover advantage: with 10,000+ active satellites already in orbit (versus low hundreds for most rivals), an established subscriber base of over 10 million, and SpaceX’s vertically integrated launch capability bringing deployment costs no competitor can currently match.

Starlink’s top investors

Since Starlink is still operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SpaceX, its backers are essentially SpaceX’s backers. Over the years, SpaceX has attracted a wide range of major institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds, including:

• Elon Musk – founder, CEO, and the largest individual shareholder
• Founders Fund – Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm, a long-standing SpaceX backer
• Sequoia Capital
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
• Alphabet (Google) – participated in earlier SpaceX rounds
• Fidelity Investments
• Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF)
• Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company and Alpha Dhabi
• Mirae Asset (South Korea)
• BlackRock and other large asset managers – via secondary share sales and tender offers
• Various other VCs, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals – SpaceX’s regular secondary tenders have given many institutional and private wealth investors exposure to the company

This combination of deep-pocketed sovereign, institutional, and venture investors has supported SpaceX’s enormous capital needs over the years – particularly as it scaled Starlink’s satellite manufacturing, Starship development, and global service rollout.

When is the Starlink IPO?

The picture has changed dramatically since Elon Musk’s earlier cautious comments that a Starlink IPO would only happen “once cash flow is more predictable”. With Starlink now generating over $11 billion in revenue, ~$7+ billion in EBITDA, more than 10 million subscribers, and 10,000+ satellites in orbit, that profitability bar has clearly been cleared.

As of 2026, the focus has shifted from “if and when Starlink will IPO” to a SpaceX-wide IPO that’s actively being prepared for 2026. Recent reporting indicates:

• SpaceX is preparing a 2026 IPO, with prediction markets and analyst commentary pointing to a possible summer 2026 listing, though exact timing remains subject to market conditions and SpaceX’s own decisions.
• The IPO is expected to be a SpaceX-wide listing rather than a Starlink spin-off, with Starlink as the primary revenue driver inside the listed entity. Starlink is reportedly contributing roughly 70% of SpaceX’s total revenue.
• Potential valuations cited in market reporting and recent secondary sales range from around $1.25 trillion to $1.75 trillion, which would make it one of the largest IPOs in history.
• Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been widely reported as leading underwriter candidates for the listing.

That said, IPO timing is never guaranteed. SpaceX’s listing will ultimately depend on broader market conditions, regulatory approvals, and Musk’s own preferences (he’s historically expressed reluctance to take SpaceX public). Investors interested in pre-IPO exposure can currently access SpaceX shares through certain pre-IPO platforms aimed at accredited investors, though these come with their own illiquidity and pricing risks.

We’ll continue to monitor the situation – if and when an official S-1 filing is published, the picture will become significantly clearer.

How to invest and buy shares after the Starlink IPO

After the Starlink IPO date, you can freely buy the newly listed stock. Interactive Brokers and eToro are two top-rated brokers where you can access Starlink shares and buy the stock with low fees after the IPO. Take a look at both these brokerage options below:

Founded in 1978 and listed on NASDAQ (ticker: IBKR), Interactive Brokers gives you access to 150+ markets across 30+ countries, with the ability to trade virtually any asset class: stocks, ETFs, bonds, forex, funds, commodities, options, futures, CFDs, and even micro-cap stocks. It’s a popular choice among investors looking to participate in major IPOs given its broad market access and competitive commissions.

If you want to buy SpaceX/Starlink stock once the IPO happens, here’s how you’d do it through Interactive Brokers:

1. Open a trading account with Interactive Brokers (the process is fully digital and there’s no minimum deposit).
2. Deposit funds into your account.
3. Once the IPO has priced and trading begins, search for the stock by company name or ticker. SpaceX’s ticker hasn’t yet been confirmed but is expected to be announced ahead of the listing.
4. Place the order type you wish to use (market, limit, stop, etc.). For volatile IPO debuts, a limit order can help avoid paying an unexpectedly high opening price.
5. Once you’ve bought your desired number of shares, monitor your position and rebalance as needed.

Note that to participate before the IPO via Interactive Brokers’ IPO allocation programme, you’d typically need to meet specific eligibility criteria (such as account size and trading history). For most retail investors, simply buying on the open market once trading begins is the more accessible route.

If you’d like to learn more about the platform, check out our full-length Interactive Brokers review.

Founded in 2007, eToro now has over 40 million users worldwide and went public on NASDAQ (ticker: ETOR) in 2025. The platform is widely known for its social and copy-trading features, and lets users trade stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, commodities, forex, and CFDs.

If you’re planning to buy SpaceX/Starlink stock after the IPO, here’s how you can buy shares through eToro:

1. Open an account with eToro – 52% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
2. Go to the “Markets” section and select “Stocks.”
3. Search for the stock by company name or ticker once it’s available.
4. Select “Trade.”
5. Choose how much you want to invest (eToro supports fractional shares, so you can invest a fixed amount rather than buying a whole share).
6. Ensure leverage is set to X1 if you want to buy the actual stock rather than a CFD.
7. Optionally set take-profit or stop-loss levels to automate future actions.
8. Click “Open Trade” to place the order.

Note that most stock trades on eToro now carry a $1 commission per trade (ETFs remain commission-free, with other fees applying), and you’ll want to consider currency conversion fees if your account is funded in a currency other than USD.

If you’d like to learn more about the platform, check out our in-depth eToro review.

Bottom line on investing in the Starlink IPO

What began as a side project within SpaceX has become its primary revenue engine. Unlike some technology bets that may pay off years from now, Starlink solves a real-world problem today – bringing high-speed broadband to areas underserved by traditional infrastructure – which has driven both rapid satellite deployment and the explosive subscriber growth we’ve seen.

With over 10 million subscribers, $11+ billion in revenue, and an active IPO process underway, the “if and when” questions of a few years ago have largely been answered. The remaining questions are around valuation, competitive dynamics, and execution – particularly as Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Chinese state constellations, and other LEO competitors ramp up.

Investing in SpaceX (and by extension Starlink) will carry real risks: high valuation expectations, capital-intensive growth, and intensifying competition. But for investors who believe satellite internet will become a major piece of global communications infrastructure, the upcoming IPO is one of the most-watched listings of the decade.