--- title: "SpaceX Discusses Spinning Off Starlink Via IPO as Soon as 2024" description: "SpaceX is discussing an initial public offering for its fast-growing Starlink satellite business as soon as late 2024, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a bid to capitalize on robust demand for communications via space." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "Newsdeck" author: "Bloomberg" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-11-15-spacex-discusses-spinning-off-starlink-via-ipo-as-soon-as-2024/" published: "2023-11-15T16:37:46" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 422 --- # SpaceX Discusses Spinning Off Starlink Via IPO as Soon as 2024 > SpaceX is discussing an initial public offering for its fast-growing Starlink satellite business as soon as late 2024, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a bid to capitalize on robust demand for communications via space. By Bloomberg · Published 15 November 2023, 18:37 SAST ## Key points - Elon Musk's Starlink is on the brink of an IPO, having achieved cash flow breakeven and with a majority of all satellites in Earth's orbit expected by next year. - SpaceX is preparing for a potential Starlink IPO in 2024. - Elon Musk has said the listing would happen when cash flow predictions can be made “reasonably well”. - Starlink is expected to generate $10 billion in sales next year, eclipsing its rocket launch business. - The company has achieved cash flow breakeven, with over 5,000 satellites providing high-speed internet in more than 60 countries. ## Content To get ready, SpaceX has been moving the satellite unit’s assets to a wholly owned subsidiary that would ultimately be spun off in the IPO, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversations are private. No final decisions have been made and it’s possible that SpaceX retains the unit. The listing could also be delayed to 2025, the people said. A representative for Space Exploration Technologies Corp., as the company is formally known, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and chief executive officer, has been dangling the prospect of a Starlink IPO for years, but the timing of an offering has been unclear. Musk [said](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-09/musk-says-starlink-to-ipo-once-cash-flow-more-predictable) in 2021 the space-based internet service would list shares once it could make predictions “reasonably well” about cash flow, a closely watched measure of a business’s financial health. Last year, he [told employees](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/07/spacex-starlink-ipo-elon-musk-says-offering-is-3-or-4-years-away.html) that a public market debut may not happen for years. But the business has taken off recently, and SpaceX [expects](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-06/spacex-eyes-15-billion-in-sales-next-year-on-starlink-strength) Starlink to generate about $10 billion of overall sales next year, eclipsing its rocket launch business and accounting for two-thirds of the total, Bloomberg News reported on Nov. 6. Read More: [SpaceX Eyes $15 Billion in 2024 Sales on Starlink Strength](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-06/spacex-eyes-15-billion-in-sales-next-year-on-starlink-strength) Founded in 2002, SpaceX owns a constellation of more than 5,000 satellites orbiting Earth and providing high-speed internet connectivity for customers in more [than 60 countries](https://twitter.com/Starlink/status/1705695980325323023). The company’s pledged billions of dollars to build out the constellation. [Starlink](https://www.starlink.com/) and rivals like Amazon.com Inc.’s nascent [Project Kuiper](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-16/amazon-project-kuiper-satellite-prototypes-are-a-success-in-week-1) are competing to [launch thousands of additional small satellites](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-29/starlink-how-musk-s-leo-satellite-s-work-and-what-their-downsides-are) that zip around the globe in what’s known as low-Earth orbit, connecting places that are too remote for ground-based broadband or have been cut off by natural disasters or conflict. Read More: [How Musk’s Starlink Sparked a New Kind of Space Race](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-29/starlink-how-musk-s-leo-satellite-s-work-and-what-their-downsides-are) While financial details have been sparse for the closely held company, Musk on Nov. 2 [posted](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-02/musk-says-spacex-s-starlink-has-hit-cash-flow-breakeven) on the X social media platform that Starlink had reached cash flow breakeven. That marked a significant turnaround after Musk said last year that Starlink was “still losing money.” He suggested at the time that his biggest goal for the business was that it “not go bankrupt.” > Excited to announce that [@SpaceX](https://twitter.com/SpaceX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)[@Starlink](https://twitter.com/Starlink?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) has achieved breakeven cash flow! Excellent work by a great team. > > Starlink is also now a majority of all active satellites and will have launched a a majority of all satellites cumulatively from Earth by next year. > > — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) [November 2, 2023](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1720098480037773658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)