[Follow Monday’s SpaceX Starlink launch here.]

The goal of Elon Musk, the founder and chief executive of SpaceX, is to send people to space. But how can he possibly pay for such an expensive venture? SpaceX, for all its successes, is still a fairly small company, and the profit margin on rocket launches is small.

The solution may be to start an entirely different space business: satellites to provide high-speed internet everywhere.

The company’s next launch, will put into space the first pieces for a constellation called Starlink.

“This would provide connectivity to people who either don't have any connectivity today or where it's extremely expensive and unreliable,” Mr. Musk said during a Wednesday news conference.