• Elon Musk has said that space-based internet service can generate as much as $30 billion in revenue.
• SpaceX has already become the world’s largest satellite operator, managing more than 500 satellites and planning thousands more.
• To provide true global internet access, including rural areas, a network of ground stations linking its Starlink satellites to the internet’s physical backbone is required.

Starlink relies heavily on these stations because the current batch of satellites lacks an originally planned feature for the machines to communicate with their neighbors via lasers. This “crosslinking” ability would let Starlink pass a signal to any user below any satellite — even those in the air, on remote islands, or in conflict zones. But without it, a satellite must be able to link a user with a gateway antenna directly, limiting coverage to within roughly 500 miles of each ground station, Farrar estimates.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/28/one-of-spacexs-most-ambitious-projects-remains-on-the-ground-for-now.html