Every click takes a detour through space.
From your dish, 550 km straight up to a satellite passing overhead, across the sky by laser, down to a gateway wired into the internet, and back. The whole round trip takes about 25 to 60 milliseconds. Low enough for a video call.
A round trip from your dish to space and back: about 25 to 60 milliseconds. Hover any stage to follow the path.
We build one story like this a week, then give it away.
Most weeks, another batch goes up.
Each Falcon 9 carries a stack of Starlinks to orbit, then flies its booster back to Earth to do it again.
SpaceX · public domain
Every year, far more go up than come down.
Which is how a few dozen satellites in 2019 became more than ten thousand.
SpaceX · public domain
Zero to two-thirds of everything in orbit.
The first 60 launched in May 2019. By mid-2026, about 10,400 were in orbit. Starlink alone is now roughly 65% of every active satellite humanity has in space. Hover the curve.
satellites in orbit2019 → ~10,400
10,400
in orbit, June 2026 (McDowell)
65%
of all active satellites
7 yrs
from first launch to here
42,000
licensed ceiling ahead
Two-thirds of everything in orbit, in seven years. The next number that big lands in your inbox.
It lands itself. Then it flies again.
Reusing the booster is what makes ten thousand satellites affordable. Some have flown more than twenty times.
SpaceX · public domain
When the grid is gone, this is the grid.
A dish, a clear view of the sky, and you are online in minutes. First responders, ships, field camps, and storm-hit towns run on it.
U.S. Marine Corps / DVIDS · public domain
Ten million people, where the cable was never coming.
A fast connection in places fibre was never going to reach. Oceans, mountains, islands, war zones, and aeroplanes at 38,000 feet.
Where it's liveAvailable across 130+ countries and territories
Approximate. Live availability map at starlink.com/map.
10M+
subscribers, early 2026
130+
countries and territories
7
continents, Antarctica included
~4min
to set up a dish anywhere with sky
In the air
United · Hawaiian · Qatar Airways · Air France · WestJet · airBaltic · SAS · Zipair
At sea
Royal Caribbean · Carnival · MSC Cruises · Princess · Hapag-Lloyd
Straight to your phone
T-Mobile · Optus · Rogers · KDDI · One NZ · Salt
Get the next drop.
One interactive story like this, in your inbox each week. Free, no spam, on whatever the world is talking about.
An independent data visualization by sheets.works. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to SpaceX or Starlink. Orbital data from CelesTrak (GP data, CSV), originally tracked by the US Space Force, propagated in your browser with SGP4.