Lifespan of Starlinks Raises Questions About SpaceX Finances
SpaceX's shutdown of 500 Starlink satellites in the first half of 2025 raises questions about the company's financial picture, network capacity expert Roderick Beck blogged Monday. They were all less than 5 years old, and such shorter-than-expected lifespans for Starlinks…
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could affect the company's income by increasing network depreciation and replacement needs, he said. Starlinks cost about $500,000 each to manufacture and $3 million to get into orbit, Beck noted. Generally, it takes four suppliers in a market to crash prices and eliminate profit levels higher than what a competitive market would see, and it remains to be seen if the low earth orbit services from Amazon's Kuiper and Chinese mega constellations will provide the necessary level of competition, he added.