Technology · Issue 01
Eleven thousand satellites, one operator
As of 27 August 2026 there are 11,102 Starlink satellites in orbit — 11,087 of them working. The first 60 went up in May 2019. This is how broadband is being distributed when fibre is slow and a coastline is a chokepoint.
- Starlink satellites in orbit, 27 Aug 2026
- 11,102
- Working, same print
- 11,087
- Year the first 60 launched
- 2019
- Falcon 9 flights in 2025, mostly this constellation
- 165
A constellation is a distribution network
Jonathan McDowell, via Space.com on 27 August 2026: 11,102 Starlink satellites in orbit, 11,087 working. The first operational batch of 60 launched on 23 May 2019. In seven years one private operator has placed in low Earth orbit a fleet larger than the rest of humanity’s active satellites combined were, not long ago. The FCC has authorised on the order of 19,000. China has filed for constellations in the hundreds of thousands. This is not astronomy. It is how packets move when a cable landing station is a political fact and a trench is a seven-year permit.
Launch cadence is the factory
SpaceNews: SpaceX flew 165 Falcon 9 missions in 2025, more than the rest of the world combined, and ‘even in 2025… only about 3,000 tons of payload was launched into orbit, primarily Starlink.’ The scarce input is not the satellite bus. It is the reusable first stage and the launch license. Pair this with More than the rest of the world combined and Cables under the sea: LEO broadband is the overlay on a subsea network that still carries the bulk of bits, and the backup when a Red Sea cable is cut.
The long view is orbit as infrastructure
Distribution tech, in 2026, includes an altitude. The investing lens is not ‘buy the sky’. It is launch (cadence, reusability, licensing), the ground segment, the spectrum fight, and a respect for debris and astronomy as real constraints that will be regulated. A world with 30,000 active LEO birds is a different military, maritime and rural-broadband market. It is also a different night sky. Trade the former. Do not ignore the latter.
Investing lens
Horizon 5–15 years · Educational, not advice
LEO broadband is infrastructure. Own launch cadence, ground kit and the spectrum, not a consumer ARPU story that assumes fibre never arrives.
Where the map points
- Launch services with demonstrated reuse
- Ground-segment and terminal manufacturers
- Rural and maritime connectivity where fibre is uneconomic
- Avoid treating a constellation count as an earnings print
What can break it
- Debris regulation and insurance
- A Chinese LEO competitor that prices on industrial policy
- Fibre and 5G catching the same customers on the ground
CHART does not recommend securities, funds or trades. Figures can be revised by their publishers. Do your own research and consider regulated advice before allocating capital.
Sources
Every headline number traces to a named publisher. Contextual sources inform the essay, not the key stat.
- 01PrimarySpace.com (citing Jonathan McDowell)2026-08-27Starlink satellites: Facts, tracking and impact on astronomy
11,102 Starlink satellites in orbit as of 27 August 2026; 11,087 working. First 60 launched 23 May 2019.
- 02PrimarySpaceNews2026-01-03SpaceX, China drive new record for orbital launches in 2025
324 orbital launch attempts in 2025. SpaceX 165 Falcon 9 — more than the rest of the world combined. China 92. 2024: 259. 2023: 221. 2020: 107 (SpaceX 26, China 35).
- 03CorroboratedTeleGeography2025-12-17What to Know About Transport Networks in 2026
~15 new subsea cables in 2025 ($3.2bn). Nearly 40 in 2026 (~$6bn), highest in a decade. 2026 map: 694 systems.
Keep reading
More than the rest of the world combined
SpaceX flew 165 Falcon 9 missions in 2025. The rest of Earth flew fewer. Worldwide orbital attempts hit 324 — a new record on top of 259 in 2024. Launch is how distribution tech leaves the planet.
165
Falcon 9 flights, 2025
1,835 terabits under the ocean
International internet bandwidth hit 1,835 Tbps in 2025, up 23%. Nearly 40 new submarine cables are due in 2026 — about $6 billion of steel and glass, the busiest year in a decade. AI training may be in a desert. Inference still crosses an ocean.
1,835 Tbps
International bandwidth, 2025
The chip supercycle
Semiconductors did $792 billion in 2025. WSTS’s spring 2026 forecast put 2026 at $1.51 trillion — a 90% leap, almost all memory and AI.
$1.51 tn
WSTS spring-2026 forecast for 2026 sales