Much like everything these days, Starlink is not immune to inflation and as such it will be increasing its prices across the board.

Earlier this week the firm told customers via email that the price of the Starlink kit and it’s monthly fee would be increasing due to inflation. For customers who are averse to the price increases, Starlink says that customers can cancel at anytime during their first year of service for a partial refund of $200 (~R2 952) .

As for the increases, the Starlink kit which consists of a terminal, tripod and router will now cost $599 (~R8 842) up from $499 (~R7 365). For customers who already paid a $100 deposit before this increase was announced, the price will be $549 (~R8 104).

The monthly access fee is also increasing from $99 (~R1 461) to $110 (~R1 623) according to a report from Business Insider. This price increase will be in effect from 12th May 2022.

While we’re usually averse to price increases – and these are substantial – they aren’t all that surprising given the fact that SpaceX loses money on every user terminal it sells.

“I can say, not proudly, that with every customer we acquire we lose money on the user terminal because the cost of that user terminal is higher than the average consumer can afford,” SpaceX president, Gwynne Shotwell was quoted as saying during the 36th Annual Space Symposium in September 2021 by Inverse.

During that event Shotwell also said the firm was working to lower its costs but this doesn’t necessarily mean those cost savings will be passed along to consumers.

It’s also worth remembering that launching a fleet of satellites and maintaining a network one can’t actually physically interact with once it’s live is no small task. Just this year Starlink lost 40 satellites thanks to a geomagnetic storm forcing it to replace those satellites.

Whether Starlink plans to lower the price of access in the future is unclear, but for now, satellite internet still demands a premium fee.