19 Incredible Starlink Statistics & Facts

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Written By Viktor

Product manager by day, Starlink enthusiast by night.

Starlink was first announced in January 2015. And today, a mere 8 years later, it is already one of the world’s most popular satellite internet services.

Some of the milestones that Starlink has managed to reach are quite mindboggling, even for an Elon Musk-led firm.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what I’ll cover:

So, without further ado, let’s bring you some of the most interesting facts about Starlink.

Starlink has surpassed 1.5 million subscribers

It took SpaceX and Starlink a mere 2 years to be able to reach the inaugural mark of 1 million subscribers. And just six months later, that number swelled to 1.5 million.

Just for reference: Starlink’s biggest competitor in the United States, namely Hughes Network, ‘only’ boasts 1.3 million subscribers after substantially more years in operation.

Sources: Starlink Insider

Here’s a quick breakdown of the subscriber milestones that Starlink reached since it launched in November 2020:

DateNumber of subscribers
2023/051,500,000
2022/121,000,000
2022/05400,000
2022/03250,000
2022/01145,000
2021/11140,000
2021/0890,000
2021/0669,420

A year into the business (11/2021), Starlink had amassed 140,000 subscribers. It increased the subscriber count almost sevenfold from 11/2021 to 12/2022.

Part of that growth is simply grounded in word-of-mouth. However, a huge aspect has also been Starlink’s involvement in Ukraine and Iran as well as the expansion of its coverage areas.

Sources: CNBC, CNBC, Tesla Rati

300,000 people are subscribed to Starlink’s Roam plan

Starlink, according to its Twitter account, has over 300,000 customers subscribed to just its Roam plan.

That product alone likely nets SpaceX a minimum of $30 million in revenue every month.

Sources: Twitter

Around 80% of Starlink’s customers are located in North America

Meanwhile, 18% are located in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. The rest of the world makes up only 2% of its customer base.

However, this isn’t particularly surprising given that the majority of satellite internet users are located in Canada and the United States.

In Australia, reports recently revealed that Starlink now almost boasts 100,000 subscribers, making it one of the biggest satellite-based ISPs in the country.

Sources: Rest of World, The Sydney Morning Herald

Starlink now offers 7 different internet plans

More precisely, they are called Residential, RV (now called Roam), Portability, Best Effort, Business, Aviation, and Maritime.

Both individual consumers and businesses can now receive access to Starlink. Other options, such as a mobile network, are projected to be launched in 2024.

Sources: Starlink Insider

That’s according to Ukraine’s digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov who confirmed the figure in a video posted on his Twitter account.

Starlink quickly received over 10,000 when the war initially broke out. Some, like the British government, are allegedly paying $2,500 per month for each terminal, making it a lucrative business for Starlink.

Sources: Twitter

… if we assume that each subscriber would pay the $110 monthly fee that consumers in the United States are charged. In fact, this would equate to annual revenues of $1.32 billion.

However, pricing for Starlink varies greatly depending on the country of residence and type of internet plans the customer opted into.

Also, Starlink has donated a significant number of dishes to Ukraine, which skews revenue numbers a little.

Source: Own Calculations

Starlink spends $1,300 on the production of each terminal

Starlink, despite charging $599 in the United States for the hardware set, still manages to lose money on its terminals

However, the firm has been able to vastly reduce manufacturing costs. In the beginning, a hardware set would cost $3,000 to produce, meaning the firm lost around $2,500 when it first launched.

Sources: PC Mag

It will cost between $20 billion to $30 billion to deploy Starlink’s constellation

At least according to SpaceX CEO Musk who forecasted total investment costs to be as high as $30 billion during a video interview with the Mobile World Congress.

At the same time, he also pointed out that positive cash flow could be reached at a cost of $5 billion to $10 billion.

Source: Reuters

A total of 4,881 Starlink satellites have been launched thus far

This, at least, according to astronomer Jonathan McDowell. Most of those satellites have been transported onboard SpaceX’s Falcon rocket.

The newest Gen2 satellite will primarily be shipped via SpaceX’s Starship rocket, which is set for orbital test flights in 2023.

Sources: Planet4589.org, Starlink Insider

However, only 4,541 remain in orbit while 3,778 are still operational

Satellites deorbit for a variety of reasons. In general, SpaceX’s Gen1 satellites only have a lifespan of 5 to 6 years, so the entire fleet needs to be continuously replaced.

Starlink loses satellites for a variety of reasons. Back in February 2022, for example, it lost 40 of them to a geomagnetic storm.

Also, humans don’t need to fear being hit by satellites coming crashing back down on earth. Most of the satellite’s parts burn up when re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.

Sources: Fortune, Planet4589.org  

Starlink aims to deploy 30,000 Gen2 satellites

However, the FCC has only approved 7,500 thus far. The agency imposed the limit “to address concerns about orbital debris and space safety.”

To that extent, SpaceX recently agreed to a partnership with the US National Science Foundation to prevent Starlink satellites from interfering with astronomy

Sources: CNBC, Tesla Rati

The first 60 satellites were launched in May 2019

More precisely, on May 23, 2019, 60 Gen1 satellites were transported onboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which continues to carry out the majority of Starlink missions.

Sources: Space.com

And Gen2 satellites have already been launched (sort of)

On February 27th, 2023, Starlink deployed a total of 21 Gen2 (or V2) Mini satellites, representing the next and upgraded version of its V1 and V1.5 satellites.

They represent the smaller version of the actual Gen2 satellites mentioned above. But don’t be fooled by their name: Gen2 Minis weigh 2.5x as much as V1.5 sats and boast 4x the total bandwidth (20 Gbps vs. 80 Gbps).

The even bigger Gen2 satellites are going to be transported on top of Starship – SpaceX’s rocket that will hopefully take us to Mars (but first has to launch).

Sources: Starlink Insider

One of the biggest reasons why astronomers are concerned about Starlink’s impact on the night sky is the fact that its satellites fly across earth’s low orbit (LEO).

SpaceX, apart from partnering with other government bodies, continues to address those concerns in a variety of ways. For example, newer Starlink satellites are covered in darker coating to prevent reflection.

Sources: Starlink

And many more are set to launch. Throughout 2023, Starlink is going to expand across South America and Africa, among other countries.

We also keep a detailed overview of all markets Starlink is available in as well as what the firm charges for its Residential plan in each of those. Feel free to click on the link in the sources.

Sources: Starlink, Starlink Insider

Starlink operates a total of 147 live ground stations

Ground stations, or gateways, are required to emit signals between satellites in LEO and user terminals.

Most of the firm’s gateways (> 70%) are situated in the North America where Starlink’s customers primarily come from.

Sources: Nathan Owens, Starlink Insider

Global roaming is available now

For $200 a month, subscribers can now use Starlink in the 50+ countries it is licensed to operate in.

The introduction of what Starlink calls Roam is a result of a rebrand from the previous RV moniker.

Source: Starlink Insider

And you can even rent Starlink equipment

Back in early March 2023, Starlink introduced the ability to rent Starlink equipment instead of outright purchasing it.

Subscribers simply just pay a monthly rental fee on top of the regular subscription price. As a result, you don’t have to pay for the hardware – granted you return it in an acceptable condition.

Source: Starlink Insider

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