Jakarta - The Starlink satellite internet business is increasingly becoming the backbone of SpaceX's growth. In the midst of plans for an initial public offering (IPO) expected to take place in 2026, Elon Musk's company is said to be preparing a variety of new services, ranging from Starlink mobile phones, direct internet to mobile devices, to object tracking services in space.
Citing a Reuters report, Thursday, February 5, a number of sources familiar with the company's internal plans said that SpaceX wants to expand the coverage of Starlink to new markets, while strengthening its position as a major player in the global satellite-based communications industry.
This aggressive move is in line with the recently announced merger of SpaceX and xAI, with a combined valuation of around $1.25 trillion (Rp21078.7 trillion). The merger is the foundation of Elon Musk's ambition to build a satellite-based data center orbiting the Earth, an expensive project based on the Starlink network.
One of the plans that has attracted the most attention is the development of the Starlink phone. According to three sources familiar with the plan, SpaceX is considering making a mobile device that connects directly to the Starlink satellite constellation and potentially rivals conventional smartphones.
Although the details of the design and launch schedule are not clear, the idea of a Starlink phone is not new. In recent years, Starlink has been working with T-Mobile to bring direct satellite internet services to mobile phones on the operator's network. However, this Starlink mobile phone project is different because SpaceX is said to want to produce its own device.
Responding to netizen speculation on the X platform last week, Elon Musk did not rule out this possibility. "It's not impossible at some point," Musk wrote on his account.
"It will be a very different device from today's phones, optimized purely to run neural networks at maximum performance per watt," he said, referring to human-like computing devices used in artificial intelligence technology.
Starlink Boost SpaceX Profit
Starlink is now SpaceX's main financial contributor. Over the past year, the company is estimated to have earned around $8 billion (Rp135 trillion) in total revenue of $15 to $16 billion. Starlink is said to account for around 50 to 80 percent of total revenue.
SpaceX's largest investment in the mobile communications sector occurred last year, when the company acquired EchoStar's satellite spectrum for 19.6 billion US dollars. This move was seen as a threat to traditional mobile network operators such as Verizon and AT&T. However, to date, SpaceX has positioned Starlink as a complement, not a direct competitor, to mobile operator networks.
"It's hard for Starlink to make a phone and compete with mobile network operators at the same time," said Armand Musey, President of Summit Ridge Group. "Other operators will likely avoid using it. It's like General Motors making car tires and trying to sell them to other car manufacturers."
Currently, SpaceX is the largest satellite operator in the world, with more than 9 million users of the Starlink broadband internet service. In addition to commercial customers, Starlink also has government contracts as well as a military-grade satellite network called Starshield.
SpaceX is now operating around 9,500 Starlink satellites built over six years. Of these, about 650 satellites are specifically designed for direct-to-device services, that is, direct internet connections to devices without the need for ground infrastructure.
In a blog post on Monday, Musk confirmed the company's long-term ambitions. "The goal is to bring full cellular coverage to the entire surface of the Earth," he wrote.
With Starlink as its main money-making machine, plus plans for an IPO and an ever-widening service expansion, SpaceX is firmly establishing itself as a new major force at the intersection of the space industry, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence.
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