SpaceX is having a big year in orbit. The company launched 1,589 Starlink satellites in the first half of 2026, according to Jonathan McDowell’s satellite tracker. That’s ahead of the 1,489 deployed at the same point in 2025 — which was itself a record year with 3,180 total Starlink launches.
To put that in perspective: SpaceX has launched over 12,400 Starlink satellites since the constellation started. Nearly 11,000 are still functioning.
Compare that to Amazon’s Project Kuiper. Amazon has deployed about 400 satellites over the last 15 months, heading toward a planned constellation of 3,232. SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 can launch an entire Kuiper-sized constellation every year. Just as a side project.
The numbers are staggering when you think about what they mean for internet access. Starlink is already providing connectivity in areas traditional ISPs won’t touch — rural communities, disaster zones, maritime routes, aviation. And the constellation keeps growing.
SpaceX’s launch cadence shows no signs of slowing down. Another 29 satellites went up last night. At this rate, they’ll blow past last year’s record well before December. The question isn’t whether they’ll break the record — it’s by how much.
