Starlink

History

Background

Constellations of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites were first conceptualized in the mid-1980s as part of the United States Strategic Defense Initiative, culminating in Brilliant Pebbles, where weapons were to be staged in low orbits to intercept ballistic missiles on short notice. The potential for low-latency communication was also recognized, and development offshoots in the 1990s led to numerous commercial LEO systems using fewer than 100 satellites, such as Celestri, Iridium, and Globalstar. Teledesic proposed a broadband "Internet in the Sky," similar to Starlink, with 840 satellites. However, some of those entities, including Iridium and Globalstar, went bankrupt. Teledesic voluntarily wound down operations due to financing challenges in the wake of the dot-com bubble burst.

In 2004, Larry Williams, SpaceX VP of Strategic Relations and former VP of Teledesic, opened the SpaceX Washington DC office. That June, SpaceX acquired a 10% stake in Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) as part of a "shared strategic vision". SSTL was at that time working to extend the Internet into space. However, SpaceX's stake was sold back to EADS Astrium in 2008 after SSTL became more focused on navigation and Earth observation.

In early 2014, Elon Musk and Greg Wyler worked together planning a constellation of around 700 satellites called WorldVu, which would be over 10 times the size of the then-largest constellation, Iridium. However, these discussions broke down in June 2014, and SpaceX instead filed an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) application via the Norwegian Communications Authority under the name STEAM. SpaceX confirmed the connection in the 2016 application to license Starlink with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). SpaceX trademarked the name Starlink in the United States for their satellite broadband network; the name was inspired by the 2012 novel The Fault in Our Stars.

Design phase (2015–2016)

Starlink was publicly announced in January 2015 with the opening of the SpaceX satellite development facility in Redmond, Washington. During the opening, Musk stated there is still significant unmet demand worldwide for low-cost broadband capabilities, and that Starlink would target bandwidth to carry up to 50% of all backhaul communications traffic, and up to 10% of local Internet traffic, in high-density cities. Musk further stated that the positive cash flow from selling satellite internet services would be necessary to fund SpaceX's Mars plans. Furthermore, SpaceX has long-term plans to develop and deploy a version of the satellite communication system to serve Mars.

Starting with 60 engineers, the company operated in 2,800 m2 (30,000 sq ft) of leased space, and by January 2017 had taken on a 2,800 m2 (30,000 sq ft) second facility, also in Redmond. In August 2018, SpaceX consolidated all their Seattle-area operations with a move to a larger three-building facility at Redmond Ridge Corporate Center to support satellite manufacturing in addition to research and development. In July 2016, SpaceX acquired an additional 740 m2 (8,000 sq ft) creative space in Irvine, California. The Irvine office would include signal processing, radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) development for the satellite program.

By October 2016, the satellite division was focusing on the significant business challenge of achieving a sufficiently low-cost design for the user equipment. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said at the time that the project remained in the "design phase as the company seeks to tackle issues related to user-terminal cost".

Start of development phase (2016–2019)

In November 2016, SpaceX applied to the FCC for a license to operate a "non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite system in the fixed-satellite service using the Ku- and Ka- frequency bands". In September 2017, the FCC granted a license that required half of the constellation to be in orbit within six years and that the full system would be operating within nine years from the date of the license.

SpaceX filed documents in late 2017 with the FCC to clarify their space debris mitigation plan, under which the company was to:

implement an operations plan for the orderly de-orbit of satellites nearing the end of their useful lives (roughly five to seven years) at a rate far faster than is required under international standards. [Satellites] will de-orbit by propulsively moving to a disposal orbit from which they will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere within approximately one year after completion of their mission.

In March 2018, the FCC granted SpaceX approval for the initial 4,425 satellites, with some conditions. SpaceX would need to obtain a separate approval from the United Nation's International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The FCC supported a NASA request to ask SpaceX to achieve an even higher level of de-orbiting reliability than the standard that NASA had previously used for itself: reliably de-orbiting 90% of the satellites after their missions are complete.

In January 2017, SpaceX expected annual revenue from Starlink to reach $12 billion by 2022 and exceed $30 billion by 2025. In May 2018, SpaceX expected the total cost of development and buildout of the constellation to approach $10 billion (equivalent to $12,300,000,000 in 2024).

In mid-2018, SpaceX reorganized the satellite development division in Redmond and terminated several members of senior management.

First launches (2019–2020)

After launching two test satellites in February 2018, the first batch of 60 operational Starlink satellites was launched on May 24, 2019.

By late 2019, SpaceX was transitioning their satellite efforts from research and development to manufacturing, with the planned first launch of a large group of satellites to orbit, and the clear need to achieve an average launch rate of "44 high-performance, low-cost spacecraft built and launched every month for the next 60 months" to get the 2,200 satellites launched to support their FCC spectrum allocation license assignment. SpaceX said they would meet the deadline of having half the constellation "in orbit within six years of authorization... and the full system in nine years".

By July 2020, Starlink's limited beta internet service was opened to invitees from the public. Invitees had to sign non-disclosure agreements, and were only charged $2 per month to test out billing services. In October 2020 a wider public beta was launched, where beta testers were charged the full monthly cost and could speak freely about their experience. Starlink beta testers reported speeds over 150 Mbit/s, above the range announced for the public beta test.

Commercial service (2021–present)

Pre-orders were first opened to the public in the United States and Canada in early 2021.

The FCC had earlier awarded SpaceX with $885.5 million worth of federal subsidies from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) to support rural broadband customers in 35 U.S. states through Starlink, but the subsidies were revoked in August 2022, with the FCC stating that Starlink "failed to demonstrate" its ability to deliver the promised service. SpaceX later appealed the decision saying they met or surpassed all RDOF deployment requirements that existed during bidding and that the FCC created "new standards that no bidder could meet today". In December 2023, the FCC formally denied SpaceX's appeal since "Starlink had not shown that it was reasonably capable of fulfilling RDOF's requirements to deploy a network of the scope, scale, and size" required to win the subsidy.

In March 2021, SpaceX submitted an application to the FCC for mobile variations of their terminal designed for vehicles, vessels and aircraft, and in June the company applied to the FCC to use mobile Starlink transceivers on launch vehicles flying to Earth orbit, after having tested high-altitude low-velocity mobile use on a rocket prototype in May 2021. The FCC approved the application in June 2022. Starlink had an annual loss in 2021.

In 2022, SpaceX announced the Starlink Business service tier, a higher-performance version of the service. It provides a larger high-performance antenna and listed speeds of between 150 and 500 Mbit/s with a cost of $2500 for the antenna and a $500 monthly service fee. The service includes 24/7, prioritized support. Deliveries were advertised to begin in the second quarter of 2022. Starlink terminal production was delayed by the 2020–2023 global chip shortage, and only signed up 5,000 subscribers for the last two months of 2021. Revenues from Starlink in 2022 were reportedly $1.4 billion, accompanied by a net loss. The Starlink business unit had a single cash-flow-positive quarter during 2022.

On December 1, 2022, the FCC issued an approval for SpaceX to launch the initial 7500 satellites for its second-generation (Gen2) constellation, in three low-Earth-orbit orbital shells, at 525, 530, and 535 km (326, 329 and 332 miles) altitude. Overall, SpaceX had requested approval for as many as 29,988 Gen2 satellites, with approximately 10,000 in the 525–535 km (326–332 mi) altitude shells, plus approximately 20,000 in 340–360 km (210–220 mi) shells and nearly 500 in the 604–614 km (375–382 mi) shells. The FCC noted that this was not a net increase in approved on-orbit satellites for SpaceX, since SpaceX was no longer planning to deploy 7518 V-band satellites at 340 km (210 mi) altitude that had previously been authorized.

International concerns

Tensions between Brazil and Elon Musk's business ventures escalated in 2024 as the country's telecom regulator Anatel threatened to sanction Starlink after Brazil's top court upheld a ban on X, Musk's social media platform. Brazil's President Lula supported the decision, citing X's role in allegedly spreading hate and misinformation undermining Brazil's democracy. Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes froze Starlink's accounts, and Starlink refused to comply with a court order to block domestic access to X until the freeze was lifted, risking its license to operate.

The Wall Street Journal reported in October 2024 that Musk had been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other high ranking Russian government officials since late 2022, discussing personal topics, business and geopolitical matters. The Journal reported that Putin had asked Musk to avoid activating his Starlink satellite system over Taiwan, to appease Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping. The communications were reported to be a closely held secret in government, given Musk's involvement in promoting the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, and his security clearance to access classified government information. One person said no alerts were raised by the U.S. government, noting the dilemma of the government being dependent on Musk's technologies. Musk initially voiced support for Ukraine's defense against Russia's 2022 invasion by donating Starlink terminals, but made later decisions to limit Ukrainian access to Starlink, which coincided with Russian pressure in public and in private. In a November 2024 call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Musk said he will continue supporting Ukraine through Starlink.

In 2024, SpaceX asked its numerous Taiwanese suppliers to move production abroad, citing geopolitical risk concerns. This move was questioned by the Taiwanese government and resulted in significant anger from the Taiwanese public, with some pointing out that Starlink was unavailable in Taiwan despite its suppliers providing the underlying technology, and others calling for a boycott of Tesla products.

Starting in July 2024, SpaceX began conducting tests on Starlink in cooperation with the Romanian Ministry of National Defense and National Authority for Communications Administration and Regulation (ANCOM). These tests aim at demonstrating that the Equivalent Power Flux Density (EPFD) limit can be safely increased, thus improving the speed and coverage area of Starlink, without affecting classic, geostationary satellites. The results of these tests will be used to help change a rule set by the International Telecommunication Union in the 1990s regarding the limits of non-geostationary satellites.

Services

Satellite internet

Starlink provides satellite-based internet connectivity to underserved and remote areas, while also competing with terrestrial broadband providers in urban and suburban markets. Starlink also offers mobile connectivity services for uses such as recreational vehicles, maritime vessels, and aviation. Terminals for these markets maintain connectivity while in motion.

Service speeds and latency vary based on network load, location, and service plan. Typical latency is less than that of traditional geostationary satellite internet systems because Starlink's satellites operate in low Earth orbit. Independent testing has shown that performance has varied over time as subscriber growth, satellite deployment, and network upgrades have altered available network capacity.

Because satellite capacity is shared among users within a geographic area, Starlink has implemented network-management policies in some markets. These have included waitlists in high-demand regions, deprioritized service tiers, and data-priority systems intended to manage congestion during periods of heavy network utilization.

Pricing varies by country, service tier, and intended use. SpaceX has periodically adjusted prices in response to regional demand and network capacity, including reducing prices in markets where available capacity exceeded demand.

A Starlink subscriber is counted as one active service line. A service line is one internet subscription—usually linked to a specific terminal—and billed under Starlink's standard personal and standard business plans. One service line counts as one subscriber, even if multiple people use it. Likewise, one person or business can have multiple service lines, which are counted separately. It does not include large enterprise or government contracts.

Prior to SpaceX's initial public offering, Starlink used the words "customers", "subscribers", and "people" without providing the definitions.

Direct-to-cell service

The direct-to-cell service uses Starlink satellites equipped to connect with standard mobile phones without specialized satellite equipment built-in. Performance varies depending on network load, location, and spectrum availability, with limited capacity compared to terrestrial mobile networks.

T-Mobile US and SpaceX launched the first commercial implementation in the United States, using T-Mobile midband PCS spectrum to provide coverage in areas without terrestrial mobile service. Initial service supports SMS text messaging, with planned expansion to voice and limited data. The system is designed to work with existing LTE-compatible devices. On January 8, 2024, SpaceX reported successful SMS testing of the system on T-Mobile's network.

In April 2023, Rogers Communications announced an agreement with SpaceX to explore satellite-to-phone services in Canada. One NZ announced a partnership in the same month to extend mobile coverage across New Zealand, with SMS service expected in 2024 and voice and data in 2025. In July 2023, Optus announced a similar partnership in Australia. On August 12, 2025, Ukrainian operator Kyivstar conducted a test of the service, with a commercial launch planned for 2025.

Starshield

In December 2022, SpaceX announced Starshield, a separate Starlink-based service designed for government and military customers. The system is intended for use by the U.S. Department of Defense and allied agencies, with options for ownership or leasing of satellites. Starshield satellites are described as supporting encrypted communications and resistance to signal jamming, and are capable of hosting a range of payloads. Starshield satellites are designed to interconnect with Starlink satellites via optical inter-satellite links.

In September 2023, the U.S. Space Force awarded the first Starshield-related contract under its Proliferated Low Earth Orbit program for satellite communications. The contract is part of a broader procurement effort involving multiple vendors for military LEO services.

Applications

Military

SpaceX also designs, builds, and launches customized military satellites based on variants of the Starlink satellite bus, with the largest publicly known customer being the Space Development Agency (SDA).

SDA accelerates development of missile defense capabilities, primarily via observation platforms, using industry-procured low-cost low Earth orbit satellite platforms.

In October 2020, SDA awarded SpaceX an initial $150 million dual-use contract to develop 4 satellites to detect and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles. The first batch of satellites were originally scheduled to launch September 2022 to form part of the Tracking Layer Tranche 0 of the U.S. Space Force's National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA), a network of satellites performing various roles including missile tracking. The launch schedule slipped multiple times but eventually launched in April 2023.

In 2020, SpaceX hired retired four-star general Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy who, according to some sources, is associated with Starlink's military satellite development, and according to one source, is listed as a "chief operating officer" at SpaceX. While still on active duty, O'Shaughnessy advocated before the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services for a layered capability with lethal follow-on that incorporates machine learning and artificial intelligence to gather and act upon sensor data quickly.

SpaceX was not awarded a contract for the larger Tranche 1, with awards going to York Space Systems, Lockheed Martin Space, and Northrop Grumman Space Systems.

In 2019, tests by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) demonstrated a 610 Mbit/s data link through Starlink to a Beechcraft C-12 Huron aircraft in flight. Additionally, in late 2019, the United States Air Force successfully tested a connection with Starlink on an AC-130 Gunship.

In 2020, the Air Force used Starlink in support of its Advanced Battlefield management system during a live-fire exercise. They demonstrated Starlink connected to a "variety of air and terrestrial assets" including the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.

Criminal

In 2023 that Brazilian organized criminal groups were making heavy use of Starlink in exploiting remote regions of the Amazon rainforest.

In February 2025, Wired and the BBC reported that Starlink is a key connectivity option for scam centers in Southeast Asia with "criminals running multi-billion-dollar empires across Southeast Asia appear to be widely using the satellite internet network." Wired identified more than one hundred Starlink devices in use at just one center, KK Park in Myanmar. SpaceX announced in October 2025, that access to at least 2,500 Starlink devices used in Myanmar scamming centers was cut off.

Iran

In Iran, Elon Musk personally announced the activation of Starlink in 2022 after the Iranian government blocked the internet to suppress the spread of anti-government protests, enabling citizens to regain uncensored access. These cases illustrate the difficulty governments face in controlling unauthorized satellite communications within their borders. The decentralized and autonomous nature of Starlink's operations presents a growing challenge to national sovereignty and cybersecurity enforcement.

Likewise during the internet blackout amidst the 2025–2026 Iranian protests, Starlink was activated in Iran. However, by January 11, the Iranian government shut down Starlink internet connectivity for the first time. The jamming and shut down led to varying degrees of success, with users occasionally being able to circumvent the censorship amidst the security forces also seizing satellite dishes to block any external access. The State Department had given SpaceX sanctions exemption to enable Starlink services in Iran, and NGOs including Holistic Resilience and ASL19 had assisted in smuggling terminals into Iran. The New York Times reported that the Iranian authorities had used GPS spoofing, causing many of the estimated 50,000 Starlink terminals to not operate.

Passenger Wi-Fi on aircraft

Several airlines have retrofitted or announced plans to retrofit aircraft with Starlink terminals to provide in-flight internet access. Airlines have cited its high bandwidth, low latency, and ability to provide connectivity throughout a flight as advantages over previous systems.

On April 25, 2022, Hawaiian Airlines announced an agreement with Starlink to provide internet service on its aircraft, becoming the first airline to adopt the system.

In September 2024, United Airlines announced plans to equip its entire mainline and regional fleet with Starlink connectivity. The Federal Aviation Administration approved installation of Starlink equipment on United aircraft in March 2025.

Qatar Airways began installing Starlink terminals in October 2024. In November 2025, International Airlines Group (IAG) announced it would install Starlink terminals on around 500 aircraft of their fleet (Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Level and Vueling). British Airways was the first IAG airline to fly with Starlink installed in March 2026. Also in November 2025, Emirates followed, announcing installations on all 230 aircraft of their active fleet. In December 2025, Hanjin Group announced a deal to install Starlink terminals on all aircraft of their fleet, consisting of Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Air Busan, Air Seoul and Jin Air. In January 2026, Lufthansa Group announced Starlink would be installed on all around 850 aircraft of their fleet (including Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, Swiss International Air Lines, Air Dolomiti, Edelweiss Air, Eurowings, and Discover Airlines).

Other airlines who have announced deals with Starlink include Zipair Tokyo in January 2023, Air France in September 2024, WestJet and Air New Zealand in December 2024, airBaltic in February 2025, SAS in May 2025, Virgin Atlantic in July 2025, Alaska Airlines in August 2025, Air Canada in September 2025, FlyDubai in November 2025, Gulf Air in January 2026, Southwest Airlines in February 2026. Singapore Airlines and American Airlines in May 2026,, Wizz Air and El Al in June 2026, and Frontier Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Volaris, Copa Airlines and JetSmart in July 2026.

Maritime

Within the shipping industry, Starlink allows location-independent access to telecommunications for sailors. Cargo ship lines that have installed Starlink internet on their vessels include Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Glovis, Korea Line, SK Shipping and Pan Ocean.

In August 2022, SpaceX secured its first contract for services in the passenger shipping industry. Royal Caribbean Group added Starlink internet to its Freedom of the Seas liner. By November 2025, Royal Caribbean had installed Starlink on all vessels of its fleet. Carnival Corporation & plc added Starlink in 2024. Viking, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings added the service in 2023 and MSC Cruises, Virgin Voyages, and TUI Cruises added it in 2024.

Internet availability and regulatory approval

The Starlink network has near-global reach, including the polar caps, broadband services are licensed to be provided in 115 countries as of July 2025. SpaceX also has business operations and economic considerations for U.S. policy which may make a difference in which countries Starlink service is offered, or in which order, and how soon. For example, SpaceX formally requested authorization for Canada only in June 2020, the Canadian regulatory authority approved it in November 2020, and SpaceX rolled out service two months later, in January 2021. By September 2022, Starlink services were on offer in 40 countries, with applications pending regulatory approval in many more.

The ISEDC allowed Canada to become the first foreign country to approve the service with regulatory approval for the Starlink low Earth orbit satellite constellation on November 6, 2020.

In May 2022, Starlink entered the Philippine market, the company's first deployment in Asia, because of a landmark legislative change (RA 11659, Public Services Act) about all-foreign allowance of company ownership in regard to utility entities such as Internet and telco companies. Starlink got provisional permission from the country's collection of regulators and soon began commercial services, aimed at regions with lower Internet connectivity.

In June 2023, a license to offer Internet services in Zambia was granted to Starlink by the Zambian Government authorities, after the completion of many trial projects throughout the country. In October 2023, Starlink officially went live in Zambia.

In July 2023, the Mongolian government issued two licenses to SpaceX to provide Internet access in the country.

In July 2023, it was reported by Bloomberg that attempts to sell the service to Taiwan in 2022 fell through when SpaceX insisted on 100% ownership of the Taiwan subsidiary running Starlink in the country. This went against Taiwanese law that required that Internet service providers (ISP) are at least 51% controlled by local companies, an impracticality when dealing with a globe-spanning ISP.

Iran

In 2022, the U.S. State Department and U.S. Treasury Department updated rules regarding export of technology to Iran, allowing Starlink to be exported to Iran in support of the Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, which had triggered extensive government censorship. Immediately afterwards, Starlink service was activated in Iran. In 2023, the Iranian government filed a complaint with the ITU against SpaceX for unauthorized Starlink operation in Iran. In October 2023 and March 2024, the ITU ruled in favor of Iran, dismissing a SpaceX assertion that it should not be expected to verify the location of every terminal connecting to its satellites. Iran stated that SpaceX was capable of determining their user terminal locations by citing an October 2022 tweet from Musk saying the number of Starlink terminals operating within Iran was "approaching 100". Despite the illegality of Starlink usage in Iran, the number of Starlink users has skyrocketed via sales of the terminals on the black market. Iranian officials have acknowledged that 30,000 terminals in the country, providing access to some 100,000 users. In a cyber-blockade carried out in response to the protests in early 2026, the Iranian authorities used military-grade jammers that largely disrupted the Starlink signal.

Facilities

Starlink operates a satellite manufacturing facility in Redmond, Washington, and user-terminal manufacturing facility in Bastrop, Texas.

Starlink's satellite development and manufacturing campus occupies more than 314,000 square feet (29,200 m2) across multiple buildings in Redmond, east of Seattle. The first facility opened in 2015, and the company subsequently expanded into additional buildings within the Redmond Ridge Corporate Center.

Starlink opened a user-terminal manufacturing facility in Bastrop, Texas, east of Austin, in December 2023. During its first nine months of operation, the one-million-square-foot (93,000 m2) facility produced one million user terminals. According to company statements cited by PCMag, the facility was projected to become the largest printed circuit board manufacturing site in the United States.

Technology

Satellite hardware

The internet communication satellites were expected to be smallsats, 100 to 500 kg (220 to 1,100 lb) in mass, and were intended to be in low Earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of approximately 1,100 km (680 mi), according to early public releases of information in 2015. The first significant deployment of 60 satellites was in May 2019, with each satellite weighing 227 kg (500 lb). SpaceX decided to place the satellites at a relatively low 550 km (340 mi) due to concerns associated with space debris from failures or low fuel in the space environment, as well as letting them use fewer satellites than were initially needed. Initial plans forecast in January 2015 were for the constellation to be made up of approximately 4,000 cross-linked satellites; more than twice as many operational satellites as were in orbit in January 2015.

The satellites employ optical inter-satellite links and phased array beam-forming and digital processing technologies in the Ku and Ka microwave bands (super high frequency [SHF] to extremely high frequency [EHF]), according to documents filed with the U.S. FCC. While specifics of the phased array technologies have been disclosed as part of the frequency application, SpaceX enforced confidentiality regarding details of the optical inter-satellite links. Early satellites were launched without laser links. The inter-satellite laser links were successfully tested in late 2020.

The satellites are mass-produced, at a much lower cost per unit of capability than previously existing satellites. Musk said, "We're going to try and do for satellites what we've done for rockets." "In order to revolutionize space, we have to address both satellites and rockets." "Smaller satellites are crucial to lowering the cost of space-based Internet and communications".

In February 2015, SpaceX asked the FCC to consider future innovative uses of the Ka-band spectrum before the FCC commits to 5G communications regulations that would create barriers to entry, since SpaceX is a new entrant to the satellite communications market. The SpaceX non-geostationary orbit communications satellite constellation will operate in the high-frequency bands above 24 GHz, "where steerable Earth station transmit antennas would have a wider geographic impact, and significantly lower satellite altitudes magnify the impact of aggregate interference from terrestrial transmissions".

Internet traffic via a geostationary satellite has a minimum theoretical round-trip latency of at least 477 milliseconds (ms; between user and ground gateway), but in practice, current satellites have latencies of 600 ms or more. Starlink satellites are orbiting at 1⁄105 to 1⁄30 of the height of geostationary orbits, and thus offer more practical Earth-to-satellite latencies of around 25 to 35 ms, comparable to existing cable and fiber networks. The system uses a peer-to-peer protocol claimed to be "simpler than IPv6"; it also incorporates native end-to-end encryption.

User terminals

The Starlink system has multiple modes of connectivity including direct-to-cell capability as well as broadband satellite internet service. Direct-to-cell provides connectivity to unmodified cellular phones and is being offered globally in partnership with various national cellular service providers. Starlink's broadband internet service is accessed via flat user terminals the size of a pizza box, which have phased array antennas and track the satellites. The terminals can be mounted anywhere, as long as they can see the sky. This includes fast-moving objects like trains, and airplanes. Photographs of the customer antennas were first seen on the internet in June 2020, supporting earlier statements by SpaceX CEO Musk that the terminals would look like a "UFO on a stick. Starlink Terminal has motors to self-adjust optimal angle to view sky". The antenna is known internally as "Dishy McFlatface".

In October 2020, SpaceX launched a paid-for beta service in the U.S. called "Better Than Nothing Beta", charging $499 (equivalent to $594.2 in 2024) for a user terminal, with an expected service of "50 to 150 Mbit/s and latency from 20 to 40 ms over the next several months". From January 2021, the paid-for beta service was extended to other continents, starting with the United Kingdom.

A larger, high-performance version of the antenna is available for use with the Starlink Business service tier.

In September 2020, SpaceX applied for permission to put terminals on 10 of its ships with the expectation of entering the maritime market in the future.

In August 2022, and in response to an open invitation from SpaceX to have the terminal examined by the security community, security specialist Lennert Wouters presented several technical architecture details about the then-current starlink terminals: the main control unit of the dish is a STMicroelectronics custom designed SoC chip code-named Catson which is a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53-based control processor running the Linux kernel and booted using U-Boot. The main processor uses several other custom chips such as a digital beam former named Shiraz and a front-end module named Pulsarad. The main control unit controls an array of digital beamformers. Each beamformer controls 16 front-end modules. In addition the terminal has a GPS receiver, motor controllers, synchronous clock generation and power over Ethernet circuits, all manufactured by STMicroelectronics.

Ground stations

SpaceX has made applications to the FCC for at least 32 ground stations in the United States, and as of July 2020 has approvals for five of them (in five states). Until February 2023, Starlink used the Ka-band to connect with ground stations. With the launch of v2 Mini, frequencies were added in the 71–86 GHz W band (or E band waveguide) range.

A typical ground station has nine 2.86 metres (9.4 feet) antennas in a 400 m2 (4,300 ft2) fenced-in area.

According to their filing, SpaceX's ground stations would also be installed on-site at Google data-centers world-wide.

Satellite revisions

MicroSat-1a and MicroSat-1b were originally slated to be launched into 625 km (388 mi) circular orbits at approximately 86.4° inclination, and to include panchromatic video imager cameras to film images of Earth and the satellite. The two satellites, "MicroSat-1a" and "MicroSat-1b" were meant to be launched together as secondary payloads on one of the Iridium NEXT flights, but they were instead used for ground-based tests.

At the time of the June 2015 announcement, SpaceX had stated plans to launch the first two demonstration satellites in 2016, but the target date was subsequently moved out to 2018. SpaceX began flight testing their satellite technologies in 2018 with the launch of two test satellites. The two identical satellites were called MicroSat-2a and MicroSat-2b during development but were renamed Tintin A and Tintin B upon orbital deployment on February 22, 2018. The satellites were launched by a Falcon 9 rocket, and they were piggy-back payloads launching with the Paz satellite.

Tintin A and B were inserted into a 514 km (319 mi) orbit. Per FCC filings, they were intended to raise themselves to a 1,125 km (699 mi) orbit, the operational altitude for Starlink LEO satellites per the earliest regulatory filings, but stayed close to their original orbits. SpaceX announced in November 2018 that they would like to operate an initial shell of about 1600 satellites in the constellation at about 550 km (340 mi) orbital altitude, at an altitude similar to the orbits Tintin A and B stayed in.

The satellites orbit in a circular low Earth orbit at about 500 km (310 mi) altitude in a high-inclination orbit for a planned six to twelve-month duration. The satellites communicate with three testing ground stations in Washington State and California for short-term experiments of less than ten minutes duration, roughly daily.

The 60 Starlink v0.9 satellites, launched in May 2019, had the following characteristics:

Flat-panel design with multiple high-throughput antennas and a single solar array

Mass: 227 kg (500 lb)

Launches

Between February 2018 and May 2024, SpaceX successfully launched over 6,000 Starlink satellites into orbit, including prototypes and satellites that later failed or were de-orbited before entering operational service. In March 2020, SpaceX reported producing six satellites per day.

The deployment of the first 1,440 satellites was planned in 72 orbital planes of 20 satellites each, with a requested lower minimum elevation angle of beams to improve reception: 25° rather than the 40° of the other two orbital shells. SpaceX launched the first 60 satellites of the constellation in May 2019 into a 550 km (340 mi) orbit and expected up to six launches in 2019 at that time, with 720 satellites (12 × 60) for continuous coverage in 2020.

Starlink v3 satellites are planned to be launched launch on Starship, an under-development rocket of SpaceX with a much larger payload capability. The initial announcement in 2019 included plans to launch up to 400 Starlink (version 1.0) satellites at a time.

Constellation design and status

In March 2017, SpaceX filed plans with the FCC to field a second orbital shell of more than 7,500 "V-band satellites in non-geosynchronous orbits to provide communications services" in an electromagnetic spectrum that has not previously been heavily employed for commercial communications services. Called the "Very-low Earth orbit (VLEO) constellation", it was to have comprised 7,518 satellites that were to orbit at just 340 km (210 mi) altitude, while the smaller, originally planned group of 4,425 satellites would operate in the Ka- and Ku-bands and orbit at 1,200 km (750 mi) altitude. By 2022, SpaceX had withdrawn plans to field the 7,518-satellite V-band system, superseding it with a more comprehensive design for a second-generation (Gen2) Starlink network.

In November 2018, SpaceX received U.S. regulatory approval to deploy 7,518 V-band broadband satellites, in addition to the 4,425 approved earlier; however, the V-band plans were subsequently withdrawn by 2022. At the same time, SpaceX also made new regulatory filings with the U.S. FCC to request the ability to alter its previously granted license in order to operate approximately 1,600 of the 4,425 Ka-/Ku-band satellites approved for operation at 1,150 km (710 mi) in a "new lower shell of the constellation" at only 550 km (340 mi) orbital altitude. These satellites would effectively operate in a third orbital shell, a 550 km (340 mi) orbit, while the higher and lower orbits at approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) and approximately 340 km (210 mi) would be used only later, once a considerably larger deployment of satellites becomes possible in the later years of the deployment process. The FCC approved the request in April 2019, giving approval to place nearly 12,000 satellites in three orbital shells: initially approximately 1,600 in a 550 km (340 mi) – altitude shell, and subsequently placing approximately 2,800 Ku- and Ka-band spectrum satellites at 1,150 km (710 mi) and approximately 7,500 V-band satellites at 340 km (210 mi). In total, nearly 12,000 satellites were planned to be deployed, with (as of 2019) a possible later extension to 42,000.

In February 2019, a sister company of SpaceX, SpaceX Services Incorporated, filed a request with the FCC to receive a license for the operation of up to a million fixed satellite Earth stations that would communicate with its non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite Starlink system.

In June 2019, SpaceX applied to the FCC for a license to test up to 270 ground terminals – 70 nationwide across the United States and 200 in Washington state at SpaceX employee homes – and aircraft-borne antenna operation from four distributed United States airfields; as well as five ground-to-ground test locations.

Incidents

After the successful launch of Starlink 11-4 the second stage spun out of control and reentered earth's atmosphere over eastern Europe with a fireball visible from Berlin and Sweden as several chunks of space debris crashed into Poland near the city of Poznań. No one was hurt in the incident. Several smaller chunks were reported in the village of Wiry, and it is possible some landed in Ukraine, although officials there did not investigate. The main impact of the incident was that the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) accidentally sent its report on the incoming space debris to the wrong email address at the Polish Ministry of Defense, leaving the rest of the government in the dark on its potential hazard and in turn POLSA's President, Grzegorz Wrochna would be dismissed from his post.

Impact on astronomy

The planned large number of satellites has been met with criticism from the astronomical community because of concerns over light pollution. Astronomers claim that their brightness in both optical and radio wavelengths will severely impact scientific observations. While astronomers can schedule observations to avoid pointing where satellites currently orbit, it is "getting more difficult" as more satellites come online. The International Astronomical Union (IAU), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and Square Kilometre Array Organization (SKAO) have released official statements expressing concern on the matter. Recent studies have proved that the "unintended electromagnetic radiation" affects radio telescopes creating distortions and excessive noise and the IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference was created to manage these new man-made obstacles to space exploration.

Visible optical interference

On November 20, 2019, the four-meter (13') Blanco telescope of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) recorded strong signal loss and the appearance of 19 white lines on a DECam shot (right image). This image noise was correlated to the transit of a Starlink satellite train, launched a week earlier.

SpaceX representatives and Musk have claimed that the satellites will have minimal impact, being easily mitigated by pixel masking and image stacking. However, professional astronomers have disputed these claims based on initial observation of the Starlink v0.9 satellites on the first launch, shortly after their deployment from the launch vehicle. In later statements on Twitter, Musk stated that SpaceX will work on reducing the albedo of the satellites and will provide on-demand orientation adjustments for astronomical experiments, if necessary. One Starlink satellite (Starlink 1130 / DarkSat) launched with an experimental coating to reduce its albedo. The reduction in g-band magnitude is 0.8 magnitude (55%). Despite these measures, astronomers found that the satellites were still too bright, thus making DarkSat essentially a "dead end".

On April 17, 2020, SpaceX wrote in an FCC filing that it would test new methods of mitigating light pollution, and also provide access to satellite tracking data for astronomers to "better coordinate their observations with our satellites". On April 27, 2020, Musk announced that the company would introduce a new sunshade designed to reduce the brightness of Starlink satellites. As of 15 October 2020, over 200 Starlink satellites had a sunshade. An October 2020 analysis found them to be only marginally fainter than DarkSat. A January 2021 study pinned the brightness at 31% of the original design.

According to a May 2021 study, "A large number of fast-moving transmitting stations (i.e. satellites) will cause further interference. New analysis methods could mitigate some of these effects, but data loss is inevitable, increasing the time needed for each study and limiting the overall amount of science done".

In February 2022, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) established a center to help astronomers deal with the adverse effects of satellite constellations such as Starlink. Work will include the development of software tools for astronomers, advancement of national and international policies, community outreach and work with industry on relevant technologies.

Radio interference

In October 2023, research published in "Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters" had reportedly found that Starlink satellites were "leaking radio signals" finding that at the site of the future Square Kilometer Array, radio emissions from Starlink satellites were brighter than any natural source in the sky. The paper concluded that these emissions will be "detrimental to key SKA science goals without future mitigation".

Increased risk of satellite collision

The large number of satellites employed by Starlink may create the long-term danger of space debris resulting from placing thousands of satellites in orbit and the risk of causing a satellite collision, potentially triggering a cascade phenomenon known as Kessler syndrome SpaceX has said that most of the satellites are launched at a lower altitude, and failed satellites are expected to deorbit within five years without propulsion. in near-Earth orbit.

According to SpaceX's semiannual reports filed with the Federal Communications Commission, Starlink satellites performed approximately 50,000 collision-avoidance maneuvers between December 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024, about double the number from the previous six-month period. This represented an average of 14 maneuvers per satellite during the six-month period.

Early in the program, a near-miss occurred when SpaceX did not move a satellite that had a 1 in 1,000 chance of colliding with a European one, ten times higher than the ESA's threshold for avoidance maneuvers. SpaceX subsequently fixed an issue with its paging system that had disrupted emails between the ESA and SpaceX. The ESA said it plans to invest in technologies to automate satellite collision avoidance maneuvers.

In 2021, Chinese authorities lodged a complaint with the United Nations, saying their space station had performed evasive maneuvers that year to avoid Starlink satellites. In the document, Chinese delegates said that the continuously maneuvering Starlink satellites posed a risk of collision, and two close encounters with the satellites in July and October constituted dangers to the life or health of astronauts aboard the Chinese Tiangong space station.

The destruction of the Russian satellite Kosmos 1408 in November 2021 by an anti-satellite weapon test impacted Starlink operations. According to SpaceX reports, over 1,700 out of 6,873 collision avoidance maneuvers performed by Starlink satellites between December 1, 2021, and May 31, 2022, were to avoid Kosmos 1408 debris.

All these reported issues, plus current plans for the extension of the constellation, motivated a formal letter from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on behalf of NASA and the NSF, submitted to the FCC on February 8, 2022, warning about the potential impact on low Earth orbit, increased collision risk, impact on science missions, rocket launches, International Space Station and radio frequencies.

Competition and market effects

In addition to the OneWeb constellation, announced nearly concurrently with the SpaceX constellation, a 2015 proposal from Samsung outlined a 4,600-satellite constellation orbiting at 1,400 km (870 mi) that could provide a zettabyte per month capacity worldwide, an equivalent of 200 gigabytes per month for 5 billion users of Internet data, but by 2020, no more public information had been released about the Samsung constellation. Telesat announced a smaller 117 satellite constellation in 2015 with plans to deliver initial service in 2021. Amazon announced a large broadband internet satellite constellation in April 2019, planning to launch 3,236 satellites in the next decade in what the company calls "Project Kuiper", a satellite constellation that will work in concert with Amazon's previously announced large network of twelve satellite ground station facilities (the "AWS ground station unit") announced in November 2018.

In February 2015, financial analysts questioned established geosynchronous orbit communications satellite fleet operators as to how they intended to respond to the competitive threat of SpaceX and OneWeb LEO communication satellites. In October 2015, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell indicated that while development continues, the business case for the long-term rollout of an operational satellite network was still in an early phase.

By October 2017, the expectation for large increases in satellite network capacity from emerging lower-altitude broadband constellations caused market players to cancel some planned investments in new geosynchronous orbit broadband communications satellites.

SpaceX was challenged regarding Starlink in February 2021 when the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), a political interest group representing traditional rural internet service providers, urged the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to "actively, and aggressively, and thoughtfully vet" the subsidy applications of SpaceX and other broadband providers. At the time, SpaceX had provisionally won $886 million for a commitment to provide service to approximately 643,000 locations in 35 states as part of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The NRECA criticisms included that the funding allocation to Starlink would include service to locations—such as Harlem and terminals at Newark Liberty International Airport and Miami International Airport—that are not rural, and because SpaceX was planning to build the infrastructure and serve any customers who request service with or without the FCC subsidy. Additionally, Jim Matheson, chief executive officer of the NRECA voiced concern about technologies that had not yet been proven to meet the high speeds required for the award category. Starlink was specifically criticized for being still in beta testing and for unproven technology.

Similar or competitive systems

Amazon Leo – a planned 3,276 LEO satellite Internet constellation by an Amazon subsidiary.

AST SpaceMobile – a satellite-to-mobile-phone satellite constellation working with large mobile network operators such as Vodafone, AT&T, Orange, Rakuten, Telestra, Telefónica, etc. with the objective to provide broadband internet coverage to existing unmodified mobile phones.

Globalstar – an operational low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation for satellite phone and low-speed data communications, covering most of the world's landmass.

Guowang – a Chinese low-Earth orbit satellite internet mega constellation, being launched.

Hughes Network Systems – a broadband satellite provider providing fixed, cellular backhaul, and airborne antennas.

Iridium – an operational constellation of 66 cross-linked satellites in a polar orbit, used to provide satellite phone and low-speed data services over the entire surface of Earth.

Inmarsat – a satellite based nautical distress network for transmitting telex, fax, and other text messages since 1979 – typically used in nautical scenarios and disaster scenarios.

Lynk Global – a satellite-to-mobile-phone satellite constellation with the objective to coverage to traditional low-cost mobile devices.

O3b and O3b mPOWER – medium Earth orbit constellations that provide maritime, aviation and military connectivity, and cellular backhaul; coverage between latitudes 50°N and 50°S.

OneWeb satellite constellation – a satellite constellation project that began operational deployment of satellites in 2020.