Elon Musk’s Starlink internet increases costs for customers because of ‘excessive inflation’

Customers still waiting for their dish will have to pay more money for their deposit, a company email states

(Getty Images)

SpaceX’s internet program Starlink is increasing prices of both the kits and service – including for customers that have only put down a deposit.

A new email, sent to customers and posted on Reddit, showed that the company is raising its fees to keep up with “excessive levels of inflation”.

Starlink originally cost $499 with a $99 monthly subscription fee to keep the service running; in the UK, that was £439 for the satellite dish and an £84 monthly fee.

However the price of Starlink will now increase to $599 and $110 per month, respectively. Any customer who paid the original price for the kit will now have to pay another $50 in addition. The UK price is as-yet unclear.

“The sole purpose of these adjustments is to keep pace with rising inflation”, the email sent to customers wrote.

SpaceX did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment before time of publication.

The new prices do not seem to affect the company’s premium service, which costs $2500 for the hardware and then $500 per month on top of that. The new tier came despite SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell previously saying that there would be no price tiers for Starlink.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed the position as richest man in the world with a $300bn fortune, yet a leaked memo from late last year stated that production for the company’s Raptor rockets meant SpaceX “face[s] genuine risk of bankruptcy if we cannot achieve a Starship flight rate of at least once every two weeks next year”.

So far, SpaceX has launched approximately 2,000 Starlink satellites with plans for a megaconstellation to support its 250,000 current customers.

Tesla, Mr Musk’s electric car company, is also raising prices. The multibillionaire tweeted that his companies are seeing “significant recent inflation pressure in raw materials and logistics”.

Starlink’s price rise comes as inflation hits 5.4 per cent in the UK, the highest level in nearly 30 years.

Citizens are also facing increases in their energy bills, council tax, as well as food and petrol prices.

Conversely, the wealth of US billionaires increased by more than $2 trillion richer during the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Musk’s wealth alone increased by from $24.6bn in 2020 to $209.4bn in October 2021.