There is a lot of speculation that Starlink is positioned to get a lot more federal subsidy from the BEAD grant program. There are a few things that have to happen for that to come to pass, but that is not the only news about Starlink these days.

Starlink announced in September that it reached four million customers worldwide. What is most impressive about that announcement is the rate of growth, with the company just hitting the three million customer mark in May of 2024. The company served two million customers at the end of 2022, so the rate of growth is on a steep upward curve. The company currently has over 6,700 working satellites, up from 5,400 at the end of 2023. The company still plans to grow the first-generation constellation to 12,000 satellites. This growth puts the company on track to hit $6.6 billion in revenue for the year, which means the company will be able to internally fund its continued efforts to improve its reusable rockets.

At the end of November, the FCC’s Space Bureau granted the SpaceX application to construct, deploy, and operate a constellation of the next generation of satellites, which the company is calling its Gen2 Starlink constellation. The FCC authorized SpaceX to operate the Gen2 satellites at altitudes of 340, 345, 350, and 360 kilometers. The FCC also gave permission to connect to the new satellites using Ku-, Ka-, E-, and V-band frequencies. Starlink says it still hopes to eventually reach 29,988 Gen2 satellites, up from the 7,500 approved by the FCC so far.

In the application that requested the changes, Starlink said that “small-but-meaningful updates” can boost broadband speeds to 1 Gbps. Starlink’s website says that current actual speeds vary between 25 Mbps and 220 Mbps, with a majority of users experiencing speeds over 100 Mbps. Current upload speeds are typically between 5 and 20 Mbps. Current latency ranges between 25 and 60 milliseconds, with 100+ milliseconds in a few remote locations.

The company says the faster speeds would come from several changes. The company plans to use larger Starlink satellites, which are so big that only Starship can launch them. SpaceX has also requested to lower the altitudes of existing satellites, requesting to lower satellites at 525, 530, 535 kilometers to 475, 480, and 485 kilometers, respectively.” Another request to the FCC would change the elevation angles for satellites operating between 400 and 500 kilometers from 25 degrees to 20. This would increase the connection times to earth stations.

Finally, the FCC approved the request by SpaceX and T-Mobile to offer supplemental mobile coverage from space. The FCC ruling said this “will put an end to mobile dead zones.” For now, the approval extends to basic connection for texts or emergency communications using slices of T-Mobile’s spectrum in areas the mobile carrier’s terrestrial network can’t reach.

There is no guarantee that the FCC will approve everything Starlink is asking for. Companies like AT&T and Verizon have said that some of Starlink’s requests for frequency would interfere with and degrade service from terrestrial mobile networks.

One bit of negative news is that Starlink has reintroduced a wait list in some markets. Is this something that will be relieved as more satellites are launched, or will the rapid customer growth outstrip network capacity? This is the same kind of issue that every ISP that grows quickly faces.

Elon Musk’s close ties to the administration bodes well for the company to get much of its wish list. The company had a very good 2024, and the future looks even brighter.