Elon Musk announced the deployment of 100,000 Starlink satellites to accelerate internet a hundredfold.

Elon Musk announced plans for a massive expansion of the Starlink network

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the company intends to increase the number of Starlink satellites to 100,000—ten times the current 10,000. In a conversation with JPMorgan head Jamie Dimon he emphasized that “perhaps even more than 100,000” units will be deployed solely for communications.

Why now and why go public
Musk explained that SpaceX is entering a “phase of significant growth” requiring large capital investments. Key focus areas:

Current achievements and plans
* Last year SpaceX applied to the FCC for 15,000 satellites with direct smartphone connectivity—now about 650 such units exist.
* Company revenue in 2025 was $18.7 billion, of which 60% came from Starlink.
* Musk believes expanding the network to 100,000 satellites could exponentially increase throughput and even allow humanity to abandon submarine internet cables.

Market prospects
SpaceX estimates the total telecom operator market at $1.6 trillion:

According to first‑quarter 2025 data, Starlink had 10.3 million customers; by now the number has grown to 12 million.

Regulatory issues
Implementing the 100,000‑satellite plan will require close cooperation with regulators. The FCC capped Starlink units at 19,400 but is considering an application for up to 1 million satellites that would operate as orbital data centers.

In short: Musk sees massive growth of the Starlink network as key to the future of global communications and is ready to invest significant funds to make SpaceX one of the largest internet operators.