The Truth About The Thousands Of Satellites Elon Musk Is Launching Into Orbit

In 2018, Starlink made history by launching its first prototype satellites into space. The private company, which is a division of Space X, followed up by deploying more satellites into orbit every year — usually in a span of a few months. To put it into perspective, it launched over 2,900 satellites into orbit between 2018 and 2022.

But Starlink is not done yet –- it recently got the FCC to greenlight its plan to deploy over 40,000 satellites over the next decade. That’s a big number, and if it achieves its target, Starlink could have more satellites in space than any other entity here on Earth. The real reason why SpaceX is sending so many Starlink satellites into space is to offer internet speeds that could compete with the fastest alternatives.

According to Bloomberg, Starlink satellites need to be as low as possible to the ground to reduce latency. Unlike traditional satellites that orbit the earth up to 22,223 miles above the surface, Starlink satellites are positioned in low earth orbit (LEO) which is between 311 miles and 1,243 miles above the ground. Low earth orbit satellites travel faster than medium earth orbit satellites, circling the planet in about two hours or less. This means they cover a smaller area while moving super-fast in orbit, and if you want to blanket the entire planet, you need thousands of LEO satellites to pull it off.