The growing number of users is accompanied by a decline in the value each user brings—a contradiction investors must confront as SpaceX prepares for its IPO.

According to a draft of SpaceX's IPO prospectus, the number of individual subscribers to Starlink’s satellite internet service quadrupled between 2023 and 2025. However, the average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) fell by 18% during the same period, dropping from $99 to $81. SpaceX explicitly stated in the document that it expects this figure to continue declining in the coming years.

This disclosure directly challenges previous market assumptions about Starlink’s commercial value. A Morgan Stanley research report from 2024 had estimated Starlink’s ARPU at over $170 per month—more than double the actual figure. As SpaceX gears up for an IPO with an anticipated valuation well above $1 trillion, Starlink’s profitability model will come under intense market scrutiny.

**Trading Price for Scale: The Cost of Growth** The decline in ARPU stems from SpaceX’s deliberate strategy to lower prices and expand into broader markets.

In the United States, Starlink’s lowest-priced plan has been reduced from $120 per month in 2023 to $50 per month today. Prices are even lower in parts of Europe and Africa. At the same time, SpaceX has been distributing internet terminals for free in certain regions—devices that typically cost several hundred dollars.

This year, SpaceX even aired a Super Bowl advertisement for Starlink, marking the first time one of Elon Musk’s companies has done so. The prospectus lists such marketing efforts as a core driver of performance growth, stating that "increasing Starlink brand awareness" is a "primary factor driving performance."

This "volume-over-price" strategy is reflected in the financials: by 2025, Starlink’s individual subscriber base reached 8.9 million, nearly triple the 2.3 million users in 2023. Total revenue grew from $3.9 billion to $11.4 billion over the same period, also nearly tripling.

However, the marginal benefit of this expansion is diminishing—new subscribers generally have lower payment capacity compared to early adopters.

**Individual Users as the Main Engine, Enterprise Segment Remains Smaller** The prospectus categorizes Starlink’s broadband customers into two groups: individual users (including households and small-to-medium businesses) and enterprise users (including large clients with customized agreements, such as governments, airlines, and shipping companies).

Data shows that individual users represent the larger and faster-growing segment. In 2025, individual users grew by approximately 4.5 million, contributing about $2.4 billion in additional revenue, while the enterprise segment saw revenue growth of about $1.4 billion during the same period.

Individual users accounted for over 60% of Starlink’s revenue in 2025, and SpaceX expects them to "continue to be the primary driver of Starlink’s growth."

**Starlink Mobile: Potential and Costs** The prospectus also mentions another business—Starlink Mobile, which uses a dedicated satellite constellation to supplement traditional cellular network coverage. The document describes it as "expected to become a significant new revenue stream in the future," but does not disclose specific financial data.

Currently, SpaceX’s exclusive partnership with T-Mobile is valued at approximately $100 million in total, paid out over several years based on service milestones, representing a very small portion of Starlink’s overall revenue.

However, SpaceX is investing nearly $20 billion (in cash and stock) to acquire spectrum assets from EchoStar to secure the rights to operate Starlink Mobile. The transaction is expected to be completed by 2027. This means that the commercialization progress of Starlink Mobile will directly impact whether this massive investment can be recouped.

**Dual Challenges: Competitive Pressure and IPO Valuation** External competition is another factor that cannot be ignored. Amazon plans to launch its own low-Earth orbit satellite internet service later this year, which will pose direct pricing competition to Starlink.

At the same time, SpaceX is preparing for an IPO with an expected valuation far exceeding $1 trillion. As Starlink is SpaceX’s largest revenue source, its ongoing decline in ARPU will undoubtedly become a central issue for investors and analysts to scrutinize.

A SpaceX spokesperson declined to comment on the data.