Inflation is beginning to hit raw materials, which apparently is causing SpaceX’s products and services to increase in price too, as detailed in a new email from the company.
New emails to customers show that SpaceX is increasing the cost of its products and services, including both rocket launches and Starlink satellite internet, due to “excessive levels of inflation,” according to CNBC.
Some of the price surges mark double-digit increases after both Tesla and SpaceX have witnessed “significant recent inflation pressure in raw materials & logistics.”
In an email to customers and reservation holders, SpaceX said, “The sole purpose of these adjustments is to keep pace with rising inflation.”
SpaceX Starlink Dishes Sent to Ukraine Funded Mostly by France and Poland https://t.co/GkuoJImJ2j
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) March 23, 2022
Starlink service is set to increase by 11 percent, now costing $110 per month after originally costing only $99 per month in the U.S.
In addition, Starlink hardware will now cost $549, up from $499, representing a 10 percent increase for current reservation holders who have already paid a deposit and are on the company’s waiting list.
New orders will see the hardware increase to $599 from $499, marking an increase of 20 percent.
The changes are set to become effective on May 21, while SpaceX has also increased the price of Starlink in Canada and elsewhere.
Along with Starlink price increases, the company instituted an 8 percent increase to launches taking place with the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket boosters.
A Falcon 9 launch now costs $67 million, up $5 million. A Falcon Heavy launch now costs $97 million, an increase of $7 million.
Also increasing in price is its small satellite rideshare program, now starting at $1.1 million, up $100,000. The service offers a payload weighing up to 200 kilograms to orbit. Also jumping in price is additional payload mass, at $5,500 per kilogram, up $500.
According to SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales, Tom Ochinero, he said the rocket launch price increases were “purely an inflation-driven decision,” speaking with CNBC.
“It’s long overdue and it’s just the cost of everything. I don’t even think that covers the cost of everything we’re experiencing, everything from helium to gas to my humans — you got to pay people so much now, it’s such a competitive market,” said Ochinero from the Satellite 2022 conference in Washington, D.C.
