Elon Musk's Starlink is booming, with traffic almost tripling this year

• Starlink use has soared in 2023, with internet traffic from the satellite network nearly tripling.
• Elon Musk's web service expanded to a host of new countries and is reportedly considering an IPO.

Starlink use has soared this year, according to new data — even as SpaceX's satellite network has been at the center of several major Elon Musk controversies.

Global internet traffic from Starlink nearly tripled in 2023 according to data from IT security firm Cloudflare, as the internet service, which provides high-speed web access through a network of low-orbit satellites, expanded to a host of new countries.

In the US, Starlink traffic was up by two and a half times this year. Traffic from Brazil, where the satellite internet provider launched last year, was 17 times greater than in 2022, according to Cloudflare's data.

Starlink is now accessible in over 50 countries, with Kenya, the Philippines, and Zambia among the nations that have received access in 2023.

The surge in internet traffic is an indication of how dominant Starlink has become in the satellite communication sector.

Rival satellite networks including Amazon's Project Kuiper and OneWeb are attempting to provide competition, but they are a long way from challenging Musk's SpaceX spin-off, which has around 5,000 satellites in orbit.

Amazon announced earlier this month that SpaceX would carry several Project Kuiper satellites into orbit in 2025 — an indication of how even the satellite providers looking to challenge Starlink are partly reliant on SpaceX's rocket infrastructure.

Its rapid growth has added another potential billion-dollar business to Elon Musk's stable, with the SpaceX and Tesla boss reportedly eying an initial public offering for Starlink as soon as next year.

The use of the satellite network in remote and contested regions has also caused a fair amount of controversy, however.

Musk activated Starlink in Ukraine last year after the Russian invasion disrupted its internet services. He was later slammed by the Ukrainian government after he reportedly thwarted its attack on the Russian navy by refusing to activate the internet service in the Crimea peninsula.

Musk also attracted the ire of the Israeli government when he offered to provide internet to aid organizations operating in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli army cut off internet access to the besieged enclave.

At the time, Israel said that Starlink would be used for "terrorist activities," although the Israeli government later came to an agreement with Musk over Starlink access in Gaza.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.