Elon Musk's Irish-based Starlink firm sees international profits soar

Internet and telecommunications firm saw profits double in 2024 compared to the previous year

Starlink is owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX company. 

Satellite internet company Starlink, which is owned by controversial billionaire Elon Musk, saw its international revenues and profit nearly double last year as competition in space begins to accelerate, the company’s latest financial documents show.

Starlink Internet Services Limited, which is principally involved in the sale of broadband internet and telecommunication services, is based in Ireland but provides services to various countries outside the US. It is ultimately owned by Mr Musk’s SpaceX company.

Controversy around Mr Musk grew significantly over the course of 2024 and into 2025 owing to his close support of US president Donald Trump, his meddling in the US government, as well as interfering in European politics.

As a result, sales of Teslas, the company which he also serves as chief executive, have fallen dramatically in Europe over the last several months.

According to the Starlink's latest financial documents, it recorded a profit of $12m (€10.35m) for the 2024 financial year up from $6.28m in 2023.

Revenue rose significantly to $693m — up from $358m in 2023. The company said this massive increase was driven by a substantial rise in sales to both residential and enterprise customers.

The company generates a portion of its revenue from contracts with customers to provide Starlink terminals, or kits, which are used by customers to connect to the Starlink satellite network.

It also leases these kits to customers with revenues from this including a one-time activation fee for users, a monthly recurring hardware rental service charge for a Starlink kit, as well as a monthly internet subscription service charge.

“The customer base expanded significantly across both the residential and enterprise segments, including the aviation and maritime sectors, reflecting strong demand for the company’s products and services in both new and existing markets,” the company said.

“The introduction of consumption-based pricing for enterprise customers contributed to increased overall revenue, further supported by hardware initiatives designed to enhance accessibility and flexibility for a broader range of customers.” 

The company saw product sales rise from $144m to $217m, while service revenue increased from $214m to $476.6m.

Its cost of sales for the year stood at $651m — up from $340m.

The directors did not recommend payment of a dividend to the parent company.

At the end of the financial year, the company has assets of just under $360m, up from $184m year-on-year. It has liabilities of $336m.

Starlink’s results come as Amazon seeks approval for a new ground station located in East Cork to service its new Kuiper satellite internet service to compete with Mr Musk’s company.

The online retail giant has sought approval from Ireland's telecommunications regulator ComReg for a ground station that will be located at the National Space Centre in Elfordstown in Midleton.

Amazon lodged the application with ComReg in May. The regulator said its preliminary view was that the proposed ground station would not interfere with existing services and is seeking submissions from any interested parties by July 18.

Amazon said its Kuiper system would be made up of a constellation of low-earth-orbiting satellites and end-user terminals, along with earth stations to track and command the satellites and provide backhaul services.

In April, Amazon launched 27 satellites into orbit, with a second launch taking place this week.

If granted a licence, Amazon would have permission to operate the ground station on certain frequencies to avoid conflicting with other communication services and radio frequencies.

Amazon plans to ultimately operate a constellation of 3,236 satellites to sell internet connectivity to consumers as well as corporate and government clients.

Along with Starlink and Kuiper, a number of other companies are planning competition satellite internet programmes, including European consortium Eutelsat.

Last week, Eutelsat said it was raising €1.35bn from the French government and other investors in a deal that will help the company build out its fleet of satellites as an alternative to Starlink.

The French government sees Eutelsat as strategically important for Europe's sovereignty and the continent’s most viable competitor to Starlink, by far the dominant player in providing internet connections via satellites.

France will invest €717m, more than doubling the government’s stake to almost 30%.

Additional reporting Bloomberg