What’s Happening With Starlink Now?
8,600 satellites. Millions of users. Billions in revenue — and it’s just getting started. We break down the tech, the economics, and the risks behind SpaceX’s orbital empire.
Issue 146. Astronauts 75,051
As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, humanity has decisively stepped into the era of space-based connectivity. In just a few short years, Starlink has transformed from a bold experiment into a truly global telecommunications network. In this article, we take a look at the current state of the system, highlight notable technological advances, and explore what the future may hold.
Current Status
As of October 2025, approximately 8,600 Starlink satellites are currently operating in orbit, with the total number of launched satellites having surpassed 10,000. SpaceX plans to expand the constellation to 42,000 satellites in the coming years, making it the largest fleet ever deployed in human history. The company has the capacity to manufacture up to 45 satellites per week and, at peak times, has launched as many as 240 in a single month. On average, each satellite has a lifespan of about five years, after which it is deliberately deorbited and burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere, helping to minimize the problem of space debris.
As of October 2025, Starlink boasts around 7.6 million active subscribers worldwide. This number has grown from 6 million in June and 7 million in August, reflecting steady growth in its user base.
Despite the explosive growth in user numbers, Starlink is now facing challenges with network congestion. In parts of the United States and Europe, users have reported slower speeds and less stable connections, particularly during peak hours. To address this, Starlink introduced a congestion charge of $100 last year in areas with heavy network usage, raising this fee to $250 in some cities in 2025. At the same time, in regions where capacity exceeds demand, the company has begun offering free equipment to attract new subscribers.
While Starlink’s user base has expanded dramatically, the system is now experiencing the typical growing pains of a rapidly scaling network—bandwidth constraints, localized outages, and rising latency. These issues show that, while the project has been a success in terms of global reach, it has entered a new phase: adapting to the demands placed on it by millions of simultaneous users.
New Technological Solutions
In 2025, Starlink unveiled Direct to Cell, a feature that lets standard 4G/LTE smartphones connect straight to its satellites—no towers or special hardware required. This leap in technology opens the door to full coverage across the planet, reaching even remote regions and oceans that previously had no access. Beyond personal communication, Direct to Cell has major implications for the Internet of Things, transport networks, and emergency response systems.
With each Starlink satellite acting as a mobile cell tower in orbit, users can expect their regular smartphones to work not just in cities, but also in deserts, on ships, or anywhere with a clear view of the sky. The satellites are equipped with LTE/4G modules that use the same frequency bands as mainstream smartphones, so no new SIM cards or accessories are needed.
Direct to Cell marks a significant step towards making connectivity truly independent of ground infrastructure, setting the stage for a new level of global accessibility.
New Thrusters
A central element of Starlink’s success is its satellite propulsion system. Each engine is responsible for several key tasks: raising the satellite from its drop-off point after launch to its operational orbit, maneuvering to avoid space debris and other satellites, maintaining position by making ongoing adjustments throughout its service life, and ensuring a controlled, targeted reentry when the satellite reaches the end of its life.
Given the vast scale of this constellation, efficient propulsion is essential for long-term reliability and sustainability. From the outset, SpaceX has engineered and refined its thrusters in-house, allowing the company to quickly adapt and optimize performance for thousands of satellites deployed in orbit.
SpaceX made a strategic choice to develop its satellite engines entirely in-house. This decision offers key advantages for the Starlink constellation: flexibility, independence from outside suppliers, cost efficiency, and the ability to quickly roll out improvements—such as moving from expensive, rare xenon propellant to more affordable options like krypton and argon.
At the heart of these advancements is Hall-effect thruster technology, a highly reliable and widely used type of electric propulsion that strikes an effective balance between thrust and energy efficiency. The main strengths of this approach include high reliability, simple operation, enough thrust to raise satellites to their target orbits, low energy consumption, and a compact, modular design well-suited to mass production of small spacecraft.
Fuel: from xenon to krypton and argon
While traditional satellites used xenon—a costly and difficult-to-source propellant—for Hall thrusters, SpaceX first switched to krypton, which is much more affordable and widely available, and later to argon, cutting costs even further.
Why it matters:
Xenon: $3,000/kg*
Krypton: $300/kg*
Argon (99.999% purity): $3/kg for similar performance*
*Noble gas prices vary significantly over time.
This dramatic drop in propellant cost made it realistic to operate and maintain a constellation of tens of thousands of satellites. Evolution of Starlink thrusters:
V1/V1.5: krypton Hall thrusters, specific impulse ~1500–1600 seconds (x4 of a chemical rocket engine), thrust ~60 mN. It means that if the engine were using 1 kilogram of propellant, it could keep producing 1 kilogram of thrust for 1500 seconds (about 25 minutes). The higher the number, the longer the engine can produce thrust with the same amount of fuel.
V2 mini: argon engines, specific impulse up to 2200 seconds, thrust ~170 mN (2.4 times higher thrust and 1.5 times higher specific impulse than V1/V1.5). This is like upgrading to a hybrid car that gets more miles per gallon. Same tank size, but you can go much farther — or carry less fuel for the same trip.
V3: advanced argon Hall thruster, expected to set new industry benchmarks for performance
The average argon mass required for a V2 Mini satellite is up to 80 kg (according to our estimates), with real-world scenarios typically requiring around 40–70 kg (though heavy burns can occur during maneuvers). This keeps the refueling of tens of thousands of satellites financially practical.
On a larger scale, fueling the first 4,000 Starlink V1 satellites with krypton costs about $15 million. Thanks to the lower price of argon, refueling 30,000 V2 satellites could end up costing even less than before.
It’s also worth highlighting:
The compact design of the engines frees up more mass for payloads like antennas and electronics.
The scalable architecture has made Starlink the first large-scale network powered by thousands of electric thrusters.
Argon, as a propellant, is inert and safe in the event of a leak.
SpaceX’s approach to innovation includes developing key components in-house, enabling rapid engineering improvements, and leading the industry with advanced performance.
SpaceX’s Approach to Space Sustainability and Safety
With the growing number of satellites, the issue of space debris is becoming increasingly urgent. Starlink recognizes its significant role in this problem. To receive approval for launching the system, it established several principles that it still follows today:
Each Starlink satellite reserves about 30% of its fuel to ensure that, at the end of its operational life, it can independently and promptly descend from orbit, burning up entirely in the atmosphere. This process typically takes around four weeks and is managed by specialists in coordination with the 18th Space Control Squadron.
All satellites are designed for complete combustion upon entering the dense layers of the atmosphere. The fuel tanks are made from aluminum instead of composites specifically to ensure they burn up entirely, preventing dangerous fragments from remaining in space or posing a threat to people and property on Earth.
Satellites are launched into very low initial orbits, below 350 km. If a satellite fails within the first few days, such as not passing system checks, it is quickly deorbited using aerodynamic braking (1-3 years max). Starlink’s operational orbit extends up to 550 km. At this altitude, even uncontrolled objects exit orbit within a maximum of 5 to 6 years, often much sooner.
All Starlink satellites have automated software to analyze collision risks. They constantly update their orbital data via GPS and share this information with other operators through Space-Track.org, the U.S. Space Force, LeoLabs, and others. Collision avoidance maneuvers are executed when the risk exceeds a probability of 1 in 100,000, which is ten times stricter than the industry standard. SpaceX also assumes responsibility for these evasions, performing them autonomously and notifying spacecraft that could have been impacted.
SpaceX is committed to transparency and data sharing. It publicly provides the current orbital positions of all satellites, shares system health reports with regulators, and actively coordinates avoidance maneuvers with other low Earth orbit satellite operators. This collaboration helps track potential risks and reduce the chance of generating new debris.
However, Not Everything Is So Rosy
The risk of simultaneous failures among large numbers of satellites remains, as low Earth orbit does not eliminate such scenarios. For example, during a strong geomagnetic storm, 38 Starlink satellites deorbited at once. The fact is that with a change in the activity of the sun, the density of the atmosphere also changes - such emissions are difficult to predict. With an increase in atmospheric density, the satellites no longer have enough energy to overcome the drag force and, as a result, they leave orbit.
Managing thousands of autonomous satellites complicates navigation in low Earth orbit and requires continuous coordination between companies to avoid collisions and interference. Although still theoretical, the threat of cascading collisions—the Kessler effect—could become a reality in the case of widespread accidents or emergencies. Additionally, regulatory challenges persist, as many astronomers and officials believe that satellites interfere with observations and often remain in orbit too long after completing their missions.
Other Socio-political Aspects
The expansion of orbital internet is reshaping geopolitics and the digital sovereignty of nations. Global satellite networks operated by private companies are breaking down traditional national control over telecommunications. Because signals come directly from orbit, bypassing local providers, cables, and infrastructure, states are losing the ability to fully regulate internet access within their borders. While this promotes the free flow of information, it also raises concerns about national security, traffic monitoring, and the risk of external interference or disabling of critical systems by foreign operators. In some countries, access to Starlink is officially banned due to fears of an “uncontrolled Internet.” Starlink has also been at the center of political controversies—for instance, SpaceX recently cut off Starlink services in Myanmar after terminals were used in fraudulent call centers.
Starlink and similar initiatives present a significant opportunity to bridge digital divides by providing connectivity to remote and isolated regions where land-based internet infrastructure is unfeasible. However, this reliance on foreign technology platforms for critical infrastructure—such as transportation, healthcare, emergency services, and government systems—also introduces new vulnerabilities. These systems become potentially susceptible to external pressures or influence from private operators and foreign entities. Consequently, the orbital internet is shaping a new architecture of the global digital landscape, where questions of sovereignty, security, access rights, and technological independence are becoming central to international discussions.
As the saying goes in the famous Spider-Man movie, “with great power comes great responsibility.”
Future Features: High-Precision Navigation
One of the revolutionary features of satellite internet systems like Starlink is not just communication, but also next-generation navigation. High-precision constellations in low Earth orbit can provide positioning accuracy that was once only a dream.
Satellite internet enables high-precision navigation because each satellite broadcasts synchronization signals and position data with minimal delay. User devices receive signals from multiple Starlink satellites at the same time, compare their arrival times, and calculate coordinates through triangulation—much like traditional GPS, but with fewer errors and delays thanks to the low orbit and dense satellite networks: centimeters vs. current meter standard. This results in location accuracy that meets the demands of the most precise applications.
The potential applications are vast: unmanned transport (aviation, maritime, and ground robots), precision agriculture and geodesy, secure logistics and real-time cargo tracking, as well as military and government surveillance systems and emergency services.
Economic Impact
The Starlink project has become a major revenue source for SpaceX, funding tests of the Starship spacecraft and new orbital refueling technologies. According to Forbes, profits from Starlink subscriptions provide the financial backbone of the company, enabling the development of manned space missions and interplanetary exploration.
Starlink generated approximately $7.7 to $8.2 billion in revenue during 2024. For 2025, forecasts suggest the company could reach $11.8 to $15.5 billion in revenue, with most of this growth driven by recurring subscriber fees and long-term contracts.
Starlink has evolved beyond a tech startup into a practical tool that 7.7 million users and entire industries. With these opportunities come new challenges—from managing network congestion and space debris to navigating ethical and political debates. One thing is certain: space internet is reshaping the rules of the communications market and global relations. In the coming years, these systems will play a crucial role in defining technology accessibility, data sovereignty, and the future of the digital world. As always, if you want to discuss the topic, please shoot an email via marat@spaceambition.org. We’d be happy to brainstorm together!
These ginormous systems that affect everything globally should not be owned by one person. These are public utilities, and we paid for them with our money given to Elon Musk in the form of subsidies. I am totally against this. This is a disaster waiting to happen if it hasn’t already. I mean, come on folks. We don’t even have a house of representatives that’s a joke. We really don’t have a functioning government anymore at all so now our presence in the world is being directed by billionaires who honestly we’ve been holding back and they are really letting us know. I’m so disgusted I could scream.
Anybody physically checked the treasury lately?
Starlinks D2C is no match for what ASTS is rolling out. Mobile phones are not made to constantly switch from one weak sat signal to the next. What you need for that are BIG phased arrays that can operate in low and midband spectrum; leveraging MNO’s spectrum.