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SpaceX’s Starlink has crossed 12 million active users across 160 countries, marking rapid growth since its launch. However, the satellite internet service is still unavailable in India due to pending regulatory approvals. The milestone highlights Starlink’s global expansion while one of the world’s largest internet markets remains untapped.

SpaceX's satellite internet service Starlink has announced it is now serving more than 12 million active customers across 160 countries, territories, and other markets, a milestone that underscores the extraordinary pace at which the service has scaled since its commercial debut. For now, however, that number does not include India, one of the world's largest and most underserved internet markets, where Starlink remains grounded by a tangle of regulatory approvals that have kept it on the runway for more than three years.

The announcement, made directly by Starlink, marks a significant moment for a service that entered commercial operations only a few years ago. Reaching 12 million active subscribers across more than 160 countries signals that satellite-based broadband has moved well beyond its early-adopter phase into mainstream territory.

Starlink's network is built on a constellation of Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites orbiting approximately 550 kilometres above Earth, far closer than traditional geostationary satellites, which allows it to offer lower latency and faster speeds than older satellite internet technologies. The service promises speeds of 150 to 250 Mbps and has been particularly transformative in remote and rural areas where terrestrial fibre or mobile broadband infrastructure is absent or unreliable.

Starlink India: Licences in hand, launch still pending