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To: who_would_fardels_bear

Found this on Reddit:

First, some caveats:

Satellites are constantly being added.

Version 2 mini is out, so assuming all are such.

Only retail customer revenue is included (attempting to remain mildly pessimistic).

Ground operations, infrastructure and development costs are not included.

All these necessarily affect the bottom line. Nevertheless, this might give a glimpse on the system’s viability. All numbers found and calculated are as of April 2024.

Here’s a SWAG at the annual cost of the currently operating satellites:

There are ~6,000 satellites at ~$1 million apiece[1], and each lasting 5 years.

One Falcon 9 launches ~22 satellites, at a $15,000,000 marginal launch cost (used booster + fairings).

So, total cost per satellite is:

$1,000,000 * 22 + $15,000,000 = $37,000,000, or $1,681,818 per satellite.

The satellites last 5 years, so the annual cost is $336,364 per satellite.

Thus, to build and launch the satellites, the annual cost is ~$2 billion.

On the other side, gross revenues from only retail customers:

Average retail subscriber fee is $104.29[2] per terminal per month (ignoring commercial, aircraft, and ships with their higher fees).

There are 2.7 million subscribers.

Thus, the retail subscribers generate an annual gross revenue of ~$3.4 billion.


21 posted on 08/02/2024 11:25:49 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (THE ISSUE IS NEVER THE ISSUE. THE REVOLUTION IS THE ISSUE.)
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To: Jeff Chandler

Wow! Thanks.


22 posted on 08/03/2024 12:21:39 AM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear (Kafka was an optimist.)
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