SpaceX launched 56 additional Starlink satellites on separate Falcon 9 rockets on Sunday, surpassing the total of 10,000 satellites launched into low Earth orbit to date. This milestone was achieved aboard the 132nd Falcon 9 launch in 2025, tying the previous annual launch record with more than two full months remaining in the year.
Of those 10,000 satellites, only about 8,608 are currently operational, according to satellite tracker calculations by Jonathan McDowell. Starlink satellites have a lifespan of about five years before they are intentionally de-orbited to burn up in the atmosphere. The first Starlink prototypes were launched in February 2018 ahead of its 2021 commercial service offering.
SpaceX has permission to launch 12,000 satellites – with more than 30,000 planned – to bring fast, low-latency internet to the world. Others, like Amazon’s Project Kuiper and efforts in Europe and China, have mega-constellation projects of their own, raising concerns about the threat caused by overpopulation.
