Starlink Constellation Surpasses 11,000 Satellites in Orbit

SpaceX's Starlink constellation passed 11,000 satellites in orbit on August 19, 2026 during the Starlink Group 17-50 mission, launched by a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California — the company's 100th orbital mission of 2026, reached in just 231 days. The network grew from 10,000 to 11,000 satellites in about five months since March 2026 and now accounts for roughly two-thirds of all active satellites circling Earth, dwarfing Amazon Leo (394 satellites) and OneWeb (654). SpaceX has also filed for FCC approval of up to 100,000 next-generation satellites, underscoring the scale gap with rival constellations racing to close the connectivity gap for the 2.2 billion people still offline.