Satellite internet service Starlink, from rocket manufacturer SpaceX, has won a tender from Mexico's state energy firm to provide services until the end of December 2026, according to Reuters.
The contract is valued at between 887.5 million pesos ($51 million) and 1.8 billion pesos ($101 million), according to the decision from Mexico's Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE). Starlink's bid reportedly beat out those of two other companies.
The contract would provide infrastructure for CFE's rollout of internet access throughout rural Mexico, according to a document seen by Reuters. The agreement is said to have begun last month and will run until 31 December 2026.
TeleSemana points out that, in addition to Mexico, Starlink already offers services in almost all of Latin America and that recently Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS), signed an agreement with Starlink to integrate its solutions into its portfolio at a global level.
Numerous other markets are growing (notably Africa) and, with additional reports that SpaceX’s Starlink satellite connectivity unit is now breaking even and may even reach revenues of US$10 billion next year, the chances seem good that Starlink sales will outpace and exceed the launch business next year.
Indeed, CEO Elon Musk posted to X (formerly Twitter) late last week the claim that “Starlink is also now a majority of all active satellites and will have launched a majority of all satellites cumulatively from Earth by next year.”
SpaceX launched the first operational Starlink satellites in 2019. Today there are around 5,000 Starlink satellites in orbit. The unit has around 2 million subscribers.
