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Starlink Project
A batch of small satellites attached to the rocket with the Earth in the background
60 Starlink satellites stacked together before deployment on 24 May 2019
Manufacturer
SpaceX
Country of origin
United States
Operator
SpaceX
Applications
Internet service
Website
www.starlink.com Edit this at Wikidata
ASN
14593
Specifications
Spacecraft type
Small satellite
Launch mass
v 0.9: 227 kg (500 lb)
v 1.0: 260 kg (570 lb)
v 1.5: ~306 kg (675 lb)[1]
v 2 mini: 800 kg (1,800 lb)
v 2.0: ~1,250 kg (2,760 lb)[2]
Equipment
Ku-, Ka-, and E-band phased array antennas
Laser transponders (some units)
Hall-effect thrusters
Regime
Low Earth orbit
Sun-synchronous orbit
Production
Status
Active since 2019; 4 years ago









SpaceX started launching Starlink satellites in 2019. As of November 2023, it consists of over 5,500 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO)[5] that communicate with designated ground transceivers. Nearly 12,000 satellites are planned to be deployed, with a possible later extension to 42,000. SpaceX announced reaching more than 1 million subscribers in December 2022,[6] 1.5 million subscribers in May 2023,[7] and 2 million subscribers in September 2023.[8] It has had a key role in the Russo-Ukrainian War.[9]

The SpaceX satellite development facility in Redmond, Washington houses the Starlink research, development, manufacturing and orbit control facilities. In May 2018, SpaceX estimated the total cost of designing, building and deploying the constellation would be at least US$10 billion.[10] In January 2017 SpaceX expected annual revenue from Starlink to reach $12 billion by 2022[11] and exceed $30 billion by 2025.[12] Revenues from Starlink in 2022 were reportedly $1.4 billion accompanied by a net loss, with a small profit being reported by Musk starting in 2023.[13] This performance was characterized as "falling short" of SpaceX's growth estimates.[11][13][14][15]

Astronomers have raised concerns about the effect the constellation may have on ground-based astronomy, and how the satellites will contribute to an already congested orbital environment.[16][17] SpaceX has attempted to mitigate astronometric interference concerns with measures to reduce the satellites' brightness during operation.[18] They are equipped with Hall-effect thrusters allowing them to orbit raise, station-keep, and de-orbit at the end of their lives. They are also designed to autonomously and smoothly avoid collisions based on uplinked tracking data.[19]