How Elon Musk’s Starlink Is Bringing In Billions For SpaceX

Starlink is SpaceX’s answer to providing global, high-speed internet coverage using a network of thousands of satellites buzzing around the planet in a region known as low Earth orbit (LEO), about 342 miles above the Earth’s surface. SpaceX launched its first batch of Starlink satellites back in 2019, and since then, adoption of the service has ballooned. Starlink now has over 2 million active customers and is available on all 7 continents and in over 60 countries. Starlink has been praised for its ability to connect remote parts of the world that would otherwise not have access to reliable internet. The service has also become indispensable in areas hit by natural disasters, and, more recently, during times of war, particularly the Russia-Ukraine war. But Starlink’s growing influence is garnering condemnation from some who say that SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk is meddling in geopolitics, while the scientific community is raising alarms of the effect of thousands of satellites on radio and optical astronomy. Chapters: 00:00 - 03:03 Intro 03:03 - 06:36 Behind Starlink’s growth 06:36 - 10:33 Starlink and geopolitics 10:33 - 15:35 Scientific concerns 15:35 - 18:38 Future Produced and Edited by: Magdalena Petrova Animation: Mallory Brangan Supervising Producer: Jeniece Pettitt Editorial Support: Michael Sheetz Additional Footage: Getty Images