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By Ishika Dangayach, 12:50 PM ET
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc, said late Wednesday that SpaceX's satellite internet firm, Starlink, will be listed when its cash flow is sufficiently predictable.
Starlink, which is presently run by SpaceX, allows individuals to connect to the internet via a satellite dish that is installed on or near their property. Starlink satellites, which were launched into orbit by SpaceX, transmit the internet down to the dish.
“At least a few years before Starlink revenue is reasonably predictable. Going public sooner than that would be very painful,” Musk said in a tweet. “Will do my best to give long-term Tesla shareholders preference.”
He was replying to a question from a user who asked, “Any thoughts on Starlink IPO we would love to invest in the future. Any thoughts on first dibs for Tesla retail investors?”
President Gwynne Shotwell of SpaceX raised the possibility of spinning out Starlink for an initial public offering last year.
Starlink, a projected network of tens of thousands of satellites in low-earth orbit, seeks to provide worldwide high-speed internet access.
Based in Redmond, Washington, Starlink aspires to deliver faster internet to the entire world, beginning with increasing internet connectivity in areas where broadband providers are currently unavailable.
Shotwell said Tuesday that Starlink should be ready to give continuous worldwide coverage by September.
According to Reuters, she told a Macquarie Group technology conference via webstream, “We’ve successfully deployed 1,800 or so satellites and once all those satellites reach their operational orbit, we will have continuous global coverage, so that should be like September timeframe,”
“But then there's the regulatory task of getting approval to supply telecoms services in each country.”
Starlink said that it aims to deploy 12,000 satellites for a total cost of $10 billion.
With inputs from CNBC