With the rapidly growing popularity and success of SpaceX, one might wonder about Starlink’s statistics and market share.
Developed and operated by the aerospace company, Starlink delivers internet via a satellite constellation.
An innovative technology nonetheless, Starlink promises internet speeds that range from 50 to 500 Mbps.
Currently, Starlink can be utilized by 56 countries across the globe, and its reach is bound to expand in the future.
SpaceX is a large company with many unique endeavors, but Starlink is one that stands out, considering there’s nothing else like it in the internet connectivity market.
In this article, you’ll get a comprehensive overview of statistics related to Starlink and how it matches up to competitors regarding market share.
Key Statistics
- There are an estimated 1.5 million people using Starlink’s services
- SpaceX raised over $3.5 billion to fund the operational fielding of Starlink
- The FCC awarded SpaceX $885.5 million in federal subsidies to support rural broadband customers
- A subscription to Starlink costs between $110 and $500 per month
- Over 4,000 Starlink satellites have been launched as of March 2023
The Future of Accessible Internet
Although Starlink has been in operation for a few years now, the project has many plans for expansion in its roadmap.
In the near future, Starlink should eventually expand to 12,000 satellites, with a possible total of 42,000 after more time has passed.
The estimated total cost of the project’s development was $10 billion, but revenue is on track to catch up over the next few years.
If all goes well, Starlink could see $30 billion in revenue by 2025.
Even with thousands of satellites moving through low orbit, there’s a limit to their lifespan.
The satellites are designed to de-orbit with the help of thrusters when their life comes to an end.
Many angles have to be considered for the expansion of Starlink, and the project has drawn up concerns within the astronomy community.
For a clear look at Starlink’s past, present, and future, dive into the general statistics highlighted throughout this article.
An Overview of Starlink Statistics
Considering the complex nature of Starlink’s developments, you can end up going down a rabbit hole to learn about everything that went into the project.
However, this approach isn’t necessary, as many surface-level statistics about Starlink will tell you most of what you need to know.
From its user base, project developments, and historical information, there’s plenty of data available about the Starlink program.
1. Number of Satellites Launched
Starlink is rapidly expanding its operations with each passing month.
As of March 2023, there are a total of 7,800 Starlink satellites in Earth’s orbit.
This considers 4,000 satellites that were recently launched on top of the 3,800 that were in orbit already.
It won’t take long before Starlink reaches its goal of 12,000 satellites, but once it does, the company won’t stop there.
Starlink has an end goal of 42,000 satellites when it’s all said and done.
The quick expansion of the project is primarily seen within the last year.
Back in 2020, the company launched over 900 satellites. This was the beta testing phase of the orbiting internet service.
By 2021, pre-orders were available to the public, and Starlink brought in half a million orders by June 2021.
(VPNCentral)
2. Starlink’s Workforce and Customer Demographics
There are quite a few interesting numbers surrounding the individuals that work for Starlink and the company’s user base.
It’s a pretty diverse bunch, but you can assume the younger generation carries the budding interest in Starlink technology.
As you might expect, a majority of Starlink users reside in North America; 80% to be exact.
The other 20% is split between 18% in Australia and the last 2% living outside of the West.
Over the years, Starlink’s customer base is bound to become more diverse.
Most of Starlink’s customers are male, which is a mix of 25 to 34-year-olds.
Men account for 73.86% of Starlink users, with the remaining 26.38% being female.
In regard to the company’s workforce, 50% of employees are between the ages of 20 and 30. Those who are 30 to 40 or 40 and older stand equally at 25% each.
(VPNCentral)
3. A Look at Subscriber Growth Over Time
Anyone could assume that a service like Starlink would become increasingly popular with enough time.
Starlink proved that reeling in subscribers wouldn’t take long, as the company saw thousands of new subscribers every month since the service became available.
The table below highlights Starlink’s subscriber growth from early 2021 to May 2023.
| February 2021 | 10,000+ |
| June 2021 | 100,000+ |
| February 2022 | 250,000+ |
| May 2022 | 400,000+ |
| June 2022 | 500,000+ |
| September 2022 | 700,000+ |
| December 2022 | 1 million+ |
| May 2023 | 1.5 million+ |
These numbers make it evident that 2022 offered the most growth for the company.
However, 2023 could easily surpass it, as more satellites make the service more available to different parts of the world.
Starlink offers more than an internet service to the average household. There are many products that are related to what Starlink has to offer.
The company has partnered with airlines, ocean cruise ships, and even a specific variant for RV owners.
Starlink is aiming to become a dominant ISP, and it’s accomplishing this at a very quick pace.
(Wikipedia)
4. The Risks of Satellite Collision
No matter how vast Earth’s orbit may be, there isn’t an infinite amount of space.
When you take into account that Starlink plans to have over 40,000 satellites in orbit, it poses some concerns regarding the potential for collisions.
The contribution to space debris is an issue from more than one angle.
There has already been a near-miss incident early on in the program.
It was calculated that there was a 1 in 1,000 chance of a Starlink satellite colliding with a European satellite.
Communication issues were a part of this potential issue, and Elon Musk promised research was underway to implement collision avoidance technologies.
Two other close encounters were brought up by Chinese authorities.
A few possible collisions may not seem like much, but there’s a good chance these complaints will become more common with more Starlink satellites entering orbit.
Gen2 Starlink satellites show plenty of promise in collision avoidance.
They’re equipped with enough propellant for 5,000 maneuvers in their lifespan, with roughly 350 collision avoidance maneuvers included.
(Wikipedia)
5. Statistics on Usage and Downloads
With plans for global expansion, Starlink is already available in over 50 countries across the world.
This information was recorded as of April 2023, and you can find a brief list below that includes some of the countries that have access.
- United Kingdom
- United States
- France
- Germany
- Brazil
- Spain
More recently, Starlink’s services have now reached Africa, but it should be noted that internet service is only available to Rwanda and Nigeria.
Starlink also has its own application to help streamline the use of its services, alongside many other features that support the business’s customers.
In 2022, Starlink saw nearly 2 million downloads of its application, a majority of which occurred between February and April of that year.
Interestingly, this data coincides with the conflict that broke out in Ukraine.
Before February of 2022, the Starlink app brought in roughly 1,000 to 2,000 downloads on a daily basis.
In present day, the application is seeing anywhere between 3,000 to 5,000 downloads every day.
Stats on monthly active users (MAUs) have also seen a significant increase within a short amount of time.
- The Android version of the Starlink app saw around 19,600 MAUs at the start of 2022
- MAUs reached 43,362 following the launch of Starlink in Ukraine
- By August 2022, Starlink was experiencing 35,480 MAUs
From January to August 2022, Starlink saw an 80% increase in MAUs, offering plenty of high hopes for a substantial increase throughout 2023.
The Starlink application is also one of the most popular and ranks relatively high on both Google Play and Apple’s AppStore.
For the Android app, Starlink sits in the top charts in 12 countries, some of which include the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, and more.
When it comes to the iOS application, it can be found in the top charts for nine countries, such as the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Chile, to name a few.
A sizable number of downloads came from Ukraine, Canada, and New Zealand in 2022.
In May of that year, the Starlink app had been downloaded 116,633 times in Canada, 564,548 times in Ukraine, and 15,203 times in New Zealand.
The statistics this article has mentioned so far are merely one aspect of Starlink’s growth, as the company entered a long-standing market that comes with many other competitors.
However, between the company’s growth in subscribers and widespread investments, Starlink has quickly become a competitive ISP.
Many people now use a Starlink VPN service which is a VPN for satellite internet to increase their security.
(VPNCentral)
6. Starlink Subscription and Investments
Although plenty of money comes from SpaceX and Elon Musk, that doesn’t mean there isn’t investment from other sources.
Starlink is expecting to see $20 to $30 billion in total investments.
Elon Musk has mentioned that Starlink won’t see positive cash flow until Starlink has reached $5 to $10 billion in investments.
Between SpaceX, Starlink, Elon Musk, and many interested investors, these numbers aren’t going to be hard to come by.
It’s understandable to find a subscription to Starlink to be expensive, as it can cost anywhere between $110 and $500 per month.
Unlimited monthly data from Starlink costs $110, whereas the business plan goes for $500 every month.
There’s also a one-time equipment fee of $2,500.
One could argue that this is much more expensive than other popular ISPs, but the adaptability and quality of Starlink’s service are unmatched.
(VPNCentral)
7. Competitors and Starlink’s Effect on the ISP Market
Starlink has caused many disruptions among competitors in the internet industry.
As a response to Starlink’s efforts, companies like Amazon, Samsung, OneWeb, and Telestat are working toward their own satellite constellations.
Each company plans to deliver global broadband internet coverage, but it’s clear that Starlink currently has the largest market share.
It’ll also be hard for competitors to catch up to the number of satellites that Starlink has in orbit right now.
The promises from Starlink’s competitors are modest at best, as they’ve only aimed to deliver a couple of thousand satellites to orbit.
Many competitors’ claims have yet to come to light while Starlink continues to move forward at an exponential rate.
However, Starlink hasn’t moved forward without facing any roadblocks.
For example, the company has encountered trademark conflicts in Mexico and complaints from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) about funding allocation.
Some backlash toward Starlink simply comes from the disdain for competition, as many companies are worried Starlink will have too much control over the ISP market.
Rising competitors could cause some disruption to Starlink’s grip on the ISP market, but it would take a lot of time and money to accomplish this.
Starlink simply has much more invested in the project than other companies and is already considered a leader in satellite internet.
This isn’t to say that competing companies won’t be able to offer competitive rates and services, but it might be a few years before we see any worthy competition.
Each passing year comes with many new advancements for the Starlink company, alongside an approach to new innovation that’ll help its operations expand.
This will inevitably come with more backlash, trial, and error, but there are enough resources and investments behind the project to keep it going strong.
(Wikipedia and VPNCentral)
The Bottom Line
Starlink has garnered growing interest from consumers in recent years.
The project has been in the works for longer than you might imagine, but the public is catching up to what the innovative ISP has to offer.
Even if you can’t warrant a subscription to Starlink, it’s quickly becoming the ISP of choice for nearly two million people in different parts of the world.
In this article, we covered Starlink statistics and market share and how the company has developed in just a few years.