What changed
SpaceX filed an S-1 registration statement for an initial public offering in May 2026, the first time it published audited figures for Starlink. Broadband Breakfast summarised the filing on May 22, 2026: Starlink had 10.3 million subscribers in 164 countries and territories as of Mar 31, 2026, up from 4.4 million at the end of 2024 and 2.3 million at the end of 2023.
The filing also shows average revenue per user falling from $99 a month in 2023 to $66 in the first quarter of 2026, which fits with cheaper plans and more customers outside the US. The connectivity business brought in $11.4 billion in 2025, which the report says “made up 60 percent of SpaceX’s total revenue in 2025.”
When
Filed midweek in the week of May 18, 2026; Broadband Breakfast’s report is dated May 22, 2026. We date the post to May 20, 2026 as an approximation. This post is more than 90 days old and is kept as background.
Who is affected
Nobody’s plan or referral changes. It is context for anyone wondering how Starlink grows and why it pays for referrals.
What it means for you
Referral programs are one of the ways a subscription business adds customers, and the numbers show how fast Starlink has been adding them. They don’t tell us anything about the referral program’s future. The US terms let SpaceX change or end the program, including the reward, with 30 days’ notice, and referrals already pending keep the old terms during that notice.
The filing doesn’t, in the coverage we read, break out referral spending or how many customers came through referrals.
What to do now
Nothing. If you rely on referral income, read the 30-day change clause in the terms and keep an eye on our changelog; we post only when Starlink’s own text changes.
What stays the same
Everything about the program: reward, free month, eligibility and sharing rules.
What we don’t know yet
US subscriber numbers, referral-driven sign-ups, and whether being a public company will change how Starlink runs promotions. The S-1 figures are SpaceX’s; we read them through press coverage.
How to check it yourself
The S-1 and later filings are public on the SEC’s EDGAR system under SpaceX’s company name. Broadband Breakfast’s May 22, 2026 report summarises the Starlink figures we quote. For the referral program, the document that matters is still the US Referral Program Terms on starlink.com; filings don’t change it.