(AdrianHancu via Getty)
In a span of about four months, SpaceX has added another one million users to Starlink, the company’s satellite internet service.
On Thursday, the official Starlink account on X/Twitter posted about reaching the milestone, saying it had surpassed 4 million users.
The milestone is notable, considering Starlink passed the 3 million mark back in May, suggesting user growth has been accelerating globally.
The satellite internet service first reached 1 million active subscribers in December 2022, just over two years after Starlink launched as a beta in the US. It then took the company about another 10 months, until September 2023, to cross 2 million users.
The company hasn’t specified exactly how it counts users, but SpaceX has been steadily expanding the satellite internet service into more markets and industries. This includes bringing Starlink to additional countries in Africa, the Middle East, and islands in the Pacific. In addition, SpaceX has been securing deals to deliver Starlink to major airlines, such as United, along with cruise ships.
However, in the US, there's been signs that user growth has slowed for Starlink. In early August, SpaceX told the US Federal Communications Commission it had “over 1.4 million Starlink customers” in the country, up from over 1.3 million in December.
Still, the company has been trying to attract more US customers by offering sizable discounts. This includes cutting the $499 price for the Starlink dish to $299 nationwide, a promotion that began in August and will continue until October 6th. So it’s possible US growth may have picked up in recent weeks.