Elon Musk's internet-satellite business is 'likely' going to spin off from SpaceX and go public, COO reportedly says

SpaceX; Kevork Djansezian/Getty; Business Insider

SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Elon Musk, plans to surround Earth with Starlink satellites and provide global high-speed, low-latency internet service from orbit.

• Elon Musk's private space tech company is 'likely' to spin off its Starlink internet business and take it public, said SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell, according to a report by Bloomberg.
• Starlink, which plans to offer internet service via satellites in space, is "the right kind of business that we can go ahead and take public," Shotwell reportedly said on Thursday.
• SpaceX wants to launch as many as 42,000 satellites and launch the Starlink internet business globally this year.
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SpaceX, Elon Musk's privately-held space technology company, is planning to spin off its Starlink internet initiative and take the business public, according to a report by Bloomberg's Ashlee Vance and Dana Hull.

"Starlink is the right kind of business that we can go ahead and take public," SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell said, according to the report, speaking at a JPMorgan Chase investor event on Thursday. "That particular piece is an element of the business that we are likely to spin out and go public."

A SpaceX spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on any plans to spin off Starlink for an eventual IPO.

Starlink is working to offer internet service to customers, via its satellites orbiting in space, as early as this summer. Musk said late last year that he was able to successfully send a tweet through a Starlink connection.

A public offering for Starlink would offer a chance to own shares in part of Musk's growing space business.

Astronomers, however, have raised concerns that Starlink satellites could wreak havoc in space, and that they've already disrupted astronomical imaging. Some legal experts have said that the approval of the satellites by the Federal Communications Commission could have been illegal.

SpaceX could launch as many as 42,000 satellites and launch the Starlink internet business globally this year. Customers would get internet connection via a "Starlink Terminal" that Musk said in January looks like a "UFO on a stick."

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