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By Echo Wang, Milana Vinn and Joey Roulette<\/p>\n
NEW YORK, Jan 30 (Reuters) – SpaceX (SPAX.PVT) generated about $8 billion in profit on $15 billion to $16 billion of revenue last year, \u200btwo people familiar with the company’s results said, providing fresh insight into the \u200cfinancial health of Elon Musk\u2019s space company that is expected to go public later this year.<\/p>\n
SpaceX’s most recent \u200cfinancials, which have not been previously reported, led some banks to estimate that the company could raise more than $50 billion at a valuation exceeding $1.5 trillion, said the people, who asked not to be named to discuss private conversations.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported on Thursday that SpaceX is also in talks with \u2060Musk\u2019s artificial intelligence company, xAI (XAAI.PVT), \u200cabout a merger ahead of the IPO.<\/p>\n
SpaceX did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n
The profit figure was earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and \u200damortization, a key measure of operating performance. Musk’s satellite-based internet system Starlink is the main revenue driver, accounting for about 50% to 80% of the total, the people said.<\/p>\n
The rapid launch of 9,500 Starlink \u200bsatellites since 2019 has made SpaceX the world’s largest satellite operator with over 9 \u200cmillion users of the broadband internet service. The internet service, along with government contracts associated with Starlink and military-grade satellite network Starshield, has generated key revenue to help fund development of the company’s next-generation Starship rocket that Musk wants to use to loft more powerful Starlinks into orbit.<\/p>\n
The company bought $19 billion worth of wireless spectrum rights from EchoStar last year \u2060as it expands Starlink into the direct-to-device market, in \u200bwhich mobile phones can connect directly with Starlink satellites \u200bwithout the need for a Starlink user terminal.<\/p>\n
The satellite and rocket company is planning the biggest IPO in the world, close to Musk’s 55th birthday \u200don June 28, the \u2060people said.<\/p>\n
Musk expects Starship, which has test-launched 11 times since 2023, to start launching payloads into space this year. The billionaire expects to use Starship to eventually launch \u2060space-based AI data centers, a risky and nascent pursuit tied to the company’s proposed merger with xAI.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by \u200cEcho Wang and Milana Vinn in New York and Joey Roulette in \u200cWashington; Editing by Dawn Kopecki and Matthew Lewis)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n