- Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX had shipped 100,000 user terminals for its Starlink internet service.
- Starlink now operates in 14 countries and has license applications pending in others, Musk said.
- SpaceX said in July that the service had around 90,000 users.
Elon Musk on Monday said SpaceX had shipped 100,000 dishes for Starlink, which beams down internet from 1,650 satellites in orbit
“100k terminals shipped!” Musk tweeted. The dishes, which connect to the Starlink satellites, are part of the $499 kit users receive after signing up to the service.
Starlink now serves users in 14 countries, Musk wrote in a follow-up tweet, indicating the countries with flag emojis.
These countries include the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and 10 European countries, according to Musk’s tweet.
“Our license applications are pending in many more countries. Hoping to serve Earth soon!” he wrote in a third tweet.
Starlink plans to launch up to 42,000 satellites by mid-2027.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2021
SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for further information about the Starlink terminal shipments. It’s not clear whether the 100,000 figure means that Starlink now has 100,000 users.
Starlink’s public beta test, called “Better Than Nothing Beta,” launched in October. User subscriptions have boomed in recent months: Between June and July, Starlink gained 20,000 users, boosting its subscriber base by 30%.
Musk’s aerospace company said in a call with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials at the end of July that Starlink had around 90,000 users in 12 countries, CNBC reported.
In June, Starlink passed “the strategically notable number of 69,420 active users,” Musk said.
This was up from 10,000 users in February.
Starlink customers pay $99 a month, plus $499 up front for a kit with a tripod, a WiFi router, and a terminal to connect to the satellites.
When Starlink first launched, SpaceX told users in an email to expect speeds to vary between 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) and 150 Mbps.
