- - Elon Musk's Starlink is adding 20,000 new users a day as it hits 9 million customers

Polly Thompson December 23, 2025 at 7:51 PM

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After Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, he discouraged users from posting links on the site — which discouraged push journalists and others from using it. Has he changed his mind?Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images -

SpaceX says its Starlink internet has hit 9 million customers, just over a month after reaching 8 million.

The numbers close a year of massive growth for Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company.

SpaceX is reportedly positioning itself for an IPO next year.

Moving at superspeed isn't limited to SpaceX's rockets.

Elon Musk's satellite and rocket company has secured one million new customers for its Starlink internet in under seven weeks and is now active in 155 markets, the company wrote in a post on X on Monday evening.

"Starlink is connecting more than 9M active customers with high-speed internet across 155 countries, territories, and many other markets," the company said.

In a similar post from November 5, SpaceX said Starlink had 8 million customers, meaning that its customer base has expanded at a rate of more than 20,000 per day since that date.

SpaceX, which uses a constellation of more than 9,000 low-orbit satellites to provide its Starlink internet connection, including to remote areas, is reportedly planning to go public next year at a valuation of $1.5 trillion.

Elon Musk, who founded the company in 2002, said this month that the satellite network was "by far" the largest driver of SpaceX's revenue.

The numbers close an explosive year of growth for SpaceX. In a December 2024 progress report, SpaceX said Starlink had 4.6 million customers, and by August 2025, the number was up to 7 million.

Global web traffic from users on SpaceX's satellite-based internet service more than doubled in 2025, according to data from Cloudflare, a cybersecurity company that handles tens of millions of requests between users and websites every second.

Around two dozen airlines have also announced plans to use Starlink to offer high-speed WiFi on their planes, and SpaceX has signalled it could soon launch its own mobile carrier service powered by the satellite network.

SpaceX has successfully commercialized reusable rockets, a feat previously thought impossible by many within the space industry, and now launches more cargo into orbit than any other company.

It has also capitalized on opportunities that emerged as NASA and the Pentagon moved away from government-only spaceflight, and filled a massive unmet demand in global connectivity.

Led by Musk, who is the CEO and founder, SpaceX is also known for its intense, efficiency-driven culture.

SpaceX ultimately plans to fulfill its billionaire founder's ambitious visions of colonizing Mars and putting data centers in space with its giant Starship rocket.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

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Source: “AOL Money”