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Starlink, a division of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is still the undisputed leader of the satellite internet space. It currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit. In January, Musk applied to the FCC to launch 1 million more satellites to build data centers in space. SpaceX also seems to be filing for an IPO very soon, with a reported (and ridiculous) goal of hitting a $1.75 trillion valuation. Starlink is valued at $1 trillion of that. (Another $250 billion of estimated value goes to xAI’s horny and racist chatbot Grok.)

Most smartphone connections work by bouncing signals between cell towers. There are loads of cell towers around the world, but they’re limited in rural areas, out in the ocean, or in countries with less infrastructure to detect signals. The goal of satellite internet is to connect directly from the satellite to the device on the ground. To do that, you need a line of sight to a satellite. Which means you need more of them in orbit to see everything. That’s why companies like Amazon and SpaceX’s Starlink want thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit. The more that are up there, the more groun