I don't understand the starlink business model ??

The only markets Starlink has any value to, that can afford, it are in rural areas in developed nations, which is ab an $8 billion mkt. SpaceX claims the market is $30 B and it appears they mean every human on earth. If it's not $30 B, the business fails. There is just no way a satellite can beat the low latency of terrestrial fiber, unless it's so cheap ppl are willing to put up w/ 20ms + (usually 45ms+) of latency. That is unlikely, but the only way. It's also an overly complex solution, assumes no competitors, and honestly is already leaving dead satellites in orbit - they're not deorbiting as claimed. The other satellite Internet providers have worse latency, because of their higher orbits, but have been able to improve speeds to compete, and only require 3 satellites ea to cover the globe. There are a small number of ppl who do get latency at or under 20ms, but most ppl aren't going to reliably game or do video calls on it. So, if it were a viable business model for rural folks, it'd be great, but the math just doesn't work. The scheme has a very solar city vibe.

/r/SpaceXLounge Thread