Starlink Reaches 13.6 Million Subscribers Globally as SpaceX Revenue Jumps 161%
The company expects spending to rise sharply
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2026 — Starlink ended the third quarter with 13.6 million consumer subscribers globally as parent company SpaceX reported a sharp increase in revenue and outlined plans to spend billions more on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
SpaceX generated $14.6 billion in revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up 161 percent from a year earlier. Net income reached $4.4 billion, compared with a $1.1 billion loss in the third quarter of 2025, the company reported Tuesday.
Starlink had coverage in 174 countries or markets and approximately 11,100 satellites in orbit. The service added 1.6 million consumer subscribers during the quarter, while its connectivity business, which includes consumer broadband and enterprise and government services, generated $5.2 billion in revenue, up 69 percent year over year.
Enterprise and government revenue increased 91 percent, reflecting demand for services including government communications and in-flight connectivity. SpaceX said it expects enterprise and government revenue eventually to exceed consumer connectivity revenue.
SpaceX’s artificial/super intelligence and computing business was its largest revenue contributor. The Super Intelligence segment generated $7.6 billion in revenue, up $6.7 billion from a year earlier, primarily because of cloud computing agreements and the expansion of AI products.
The company ended September with 1.7 gigawatts of computing capacity and expects to reach 2.5 gigawatts to 3 gigawatts by the end of the year.
“At current pricing, new compute deployments are generating a payback of less than a year,” Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said during the Oct. 20 third quarter earnings webcast..
SpaceX invested $19.6 billion in capital expenditures during the third quarter, primarily to expand its AI computing infrastructure, develop Starship, and produce satellites. It expects fourth-quarter capital expenditures to rise to between $35 billion and $40 billion.
Johnsen said the company expects total revenue of $33 billion to $37 billion in the first quarter of 2027. SpaceX also remains on track to reach $100 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2026.
SpaceX said its next generation of Starlink satellites will significantly increase network capacity. The company began deploying its V3 broadband satellites through Starship, with each launch expected to deliver more than 20 times the downlink capacity of current Falcon 9 launches.
CEO Elon Musk said the company sees a path to making connectivity a business generating hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
“We do see a clear path to several hundred billion dollars a year in connectivity revenue,” Musk said, adding that the company should explain its strategy in greater detail in a separate presentation.
SpaceX is also preparing to expand its Starlink mobile service, using its growing spectrum portfolio and satellite network to compete in the U.S. wireless market.
