Starlink, the satellite internet division of Elon Musk's SpaceX, has registered a marked acceleration in global user growth and app downloads, according to a report from market research firm Apptopia. The company saw global downloads of the Starlink app and monthly active users more than double in the first quarter compared with the same period a year earlier.
Apptopia highlighted that Starlink has produced four consecutive quarters in which monthly active user growth exceeded 100 percent. That pattern of rapid expansion has come as SpaceX prepares to pursue a public listing later this year, a move for which investor expectations appear to be heavily tied to Starlink's performance.
The report estimated Starlink generated approximately $11.4 billion in revenue last year. Market observers have positioned Starlink as the primary engine behind SpaceX's targeted valuation of about $1.75 trillion as the parent company contemplates a public offering.
Growth is coming from a mix of emerging and established markets. Brazil was singled out for one of the fastest rates of increase, with monthly active users jumping roughly more than fivefold year-over-year. Brazil now represents about 13 percent of Starlink's global user base, up sharply from under 5 percent a year earlier. Argentina recorded user growth of 159 percent over the same period. Combined, Brazil and Argentina account for more than a fifth of global active users.
The United States, Starlink's largest market by size and margin, also posted notable gains. App downloads in the U.S. more than tripled year-over-year in the January-March quarter, reaching a record 1.2 million, a sign of accelerating subscriber acquisition in a key high-margin market.
Starlink's subscriber total surpassed the 10-million mark in February, underscoring the service's continued expansion phase. Analysts cited in the report said that ongoing subscriber growth will be crucial for public market investors, who are also watching future growth avenues such as plans to develop orbital data centers as the company's next growth phase.
Methodology note: The user growth and download figures cited above are drawn from Apptopia's market research report as described in this article.