Elon Musk said that his internet company Starlink was becoming more lucrative as he estimated the total investment in the business at $20 billion to $30 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk also said that Starlink has two promising partnerships with major telecommunications companies in the country that could help the SpaceX division plug gaps in fifth-generation cellular and wireless networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Tesla CEO and founder of SpaceX, a rocket project that aims to colonize Mars, said the investment costs before Starlink can generate fully positive cash flow would be between $5 billion and $10 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starlink, a series of low-orbit satellites providing fast, low-latency connections, now offers a test service to cover the world until August this year, with the exception of the north and south poles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has more than 1,500 satellites at its altitude and is in use in a dozen countries, with more added each month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk predicted that the total number of customers would reach half a million in the next 12 months, up from 69,000 today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A number of critics question whether satellite internet can be a viable business model because it is mainly aimed at remote areas where not enough people may be able to pay the high fees needed to recoup the investment costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk said he was in talks with potential partners as a number of countries require operators to provide rural coverage as conditions for their 5G licenses.<\/p>\n\n\n