Musk says NASA contracts now make up just 5% of SpaceX revenue

Elon Musk

• NASA contracts now make up only 5 percent of SpaceX's revenue this year
• Starlink's global internet service is now SpaceX's main revenue source
• SpaceX is less reliant on government contracts, shifting to commercial customers

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Elon Musk says NASA will account for only about 5 percent of SpaceX’s revenue this year, a striking reminder of how much the company has changed.

There was a time when NASA contracts were the backbone of SpaceX. Winning deals to carry cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station helped the company survive its early years and establish credibility. Government funding gave SpaceX stability when private investors were still cautious.

Now, Musk says that slice of the pie is much smaller.

The big difference is Starlink. What started as an ambitious idea to blanket the world with internet satellites has turned into a massive business. Starlink now serves millions of users around the world, especially in rural and remote areas where traditional broadband is unreliable or unavailable. It also has contracts with airlines, shipping companies and even governments.

Unlike rocket launches, which depend on occasional big-ticket contracts, Starlink brings in recurring subscription revenue every month. That steady cash flow changes everything. It makes the company less dependent on a handful of government customers and more like a global telecom provider.

NASA is still important. SpaceX continues to work with the agency on astronaut missions and the Artemis lunar programme. But those contracts are no longer the company’s financial foundation.

Musk has hinted that Starlink’s future could be even bigger. He has talked about launching next-generation satellites with more capacity, using the still-in-development Starship rocket. There is also ongoing speculation that Starlink could eventually be spun off and listed publicly, once its revenues and profits become more predictable.

For now, the message from Musk is clear. SpaceX is not just a rocket company that depends on government contracts. It is increasingly a commercial space and communications business powered by satellite internet.

That shift says a lot about how the private space industry has evolved. A company that once leaned heavily on NASA support now earns most of its money from customers far beyond government agencies.