The sky above you is a bustling construction zone. At any given moment, around 30 Starlink satellites are passing overhead—all part of a massive orbital web that’s about to expand even more. With SpaceX working on gigabit speeds and satellite-to-phone connectivity, the current fleet of nearly 10,000 satellites is merely the beginning.
We dove into the data to visualize what the mega-constellation looks like now, and how it’ll change if SpaceX eventually deploys up to one million satellites.
The number of Starlink satellites orbiting above you depends on the location. But in Redmond, Washington, for example, between 24 to 42 satellites are regularly passing overhead, putting them in position to beam high-speed internet, according to satellite industry analyst Carlos Placido, who developed a tool called NCAT to track satellite constellations, including Starlink. His simulations show that in Fort Lauderdale, Florida—a lower latitude than Redmond—the count ranges from 17 to 36 visible satellites for a Starlink dish on the ground.
SpaceX has over 9,600 Starlink satellites circling Earth; only 8,300 are in operational orbits. (Credit: Carlos Placido)
The number can balloon to dozens more if you expand the field of view from horizon to horizon. Many Starlink satellites can be silently orbiting near your skyline, although at an elevation too low to beam internet access to a subscriber, says Australia-based Justin Beech, who developed Satellitemap.space, a site that tracks Starlink.
(Credit: Satellitemap.space)
His data indicates that a satellite takes about 10 minutes to pass over a user from horizon to horizon. To get an idea of what’s above you, his site includes a “Home POV” feature that uses your location and simulates the Starlink satellites floating overhead; just click the home icon on the bottom-left corner and enter an address or give your browser permission to use your location.
‘Starlink Satellites Are Quite Dim’
In reality, the satellites are hard to spot at night, according to astrophotographers. “Starlink satellites are quite dim, especially compared to brighter satellites such as the ISS [International Space Station],” astro and landscape photographer Joshua Rozells tells PCMag.
For people who enjoy the night sky, Starlink satellites are notorious for reflecting sunlight in the hours after dusk and before dawn. But SpaceX has been working to reduce their brightness by painting them black and using mirror films to prevent interfering with astronomy.
Ralf Vandebergh, an astrophotographer, has snapped close-up photos of Starlink satellites that indicate the newer designs reflect less light than the older models. He also says it usually takes about 8 minutes for a Starlink satellite to cross from east to west at 10 degrees above the horizon.
(Credit: Ralf Vandebergh)
“The time I have to take a high-resolution image is even less, because I pick them from about 50 degrees depending on the satellite and the transparency of the sky. It’s rarely more than one minute of imaging data,” he says. Recent research indicates that while some newer Starlink models are invisible to the naked eye, others—particularly the direct-to-cell satellites—can appear bright enough in the night sky to be seen.
Rozells adds that Starlink satellites are far more visible to a camera lens than to the naked eye. “Given that they are quite dim, you might only be able to track some of them for one minute or so before you lose it,” he says. Meanwhile, newly launched Starlink satellites, also called Starlink trains, can be more noticeable as they move into orbit.
Starlink train (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Starlink satellite trails in June 2024 (Photo by: Alan Dyer/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Still, astronomers and environmentalists continue to be concerned about the growing constellation exacerbating light pollution problems. But at the very least, a sky full of satellites is good for Starlink subscribers. Since late 2020, the satellite internet system has been filling a connectivity gap by beaming internet to users, many of whom are based in rural and remote areas that tend to lack access to high-speed broadband.
At the same time, Starlink has become crucial in Ukraine for wartime communications, and in Iran, where it’s helping locals remain online, despite a government crackdown on protests and internet access. In Iran, from 15 to 55 Starlink satellites can pass over a user, depending on the location, according to Placido, who notes that heavier satellite coverage can help bypass the government’s attempts to jam the internet data.
The current state of the Starlink constellation visualized at nearly 9,600 satellites. (Credit: Satellitemap.space)
The satellite count is bound to grow. Last month, SpaceX received US regulatory approval to launch another 7,500 Starlink satellites, enabling it operate a total of 19,400 satellites. In addition, the company has been cleared to lower satellite orbits from over 500 kilometers down to 340km, which should improve latency and reduce potential interference with astronomy.
On the downside, the lower orbits can reduce a satellite’s visibility to the user “due to the smaller Earth-surface view,” Placido said. But for a Starlink user in Redmond, Washington, the number of satellites in view should increase to 35 to 57 satellites once the 7,500 satellites are added.
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For a user on the ground, how long the satellite can stay in view will vary, but Placido says the duration can last “1.6 minutes at 340km altitude with a 40-degree minimum elevation, up to about 4 minutes at 550km altitude with a 25-degree minimum elevation.”
The coming upgrades promise to increase the speeds and capacity for Starlink, which has been facing congestion in parts of the US, including Redmond. On top of this, SpaceX also plans to operate another 15,000-satellite constellation focused on supplying 5G connectivity to phones on the ground. Placido created a video visualizing the proposed constellation, which is still facing regulatory review.
On Friday, SpaceX dropped another bombshell, and revealed it’s aiming to deploy up to 1 million satellites for its orbiting data center system. Those satellites would run AI applications and use lasers to connect to the existing Starlink constellation and route data to customers below.
The satellite number is so high that Placido tells PCMag he couldn’t simulate the entire system. But he has created a video that visualizes the overall orbits for the proposed one-million constellation, which would occupy orbits form 500km to 2,000km.
‘The Collision Concern Will Only Grow’
Along with light pollution, SpaceX’s satellite efforts have also sparked worries about potential Starlink collisions. The risk is expected to rise since rival companies and China are working on their own mega-constellations, including one that may reach nearly 200,000 satellites. In response, SpaceX is preparing to release a space traffic management platform called Stargaze to help the satellite operators as a whole avoid collisions.
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“A more accurate system with low latency is obviously overdue and one would have imagined in the ’90s that this would become a key function of a space agency and not a private operator,” says Satellitemap.space’s Justin Beech. “Obviously collisions are a business threat to continued expansion of Starlink so they must do something.”
In December, a Starlink satellite had a close encounter with another satellite deployed from a Chinese rocket. The two passed within 200 feet of each other, according to SpaceX, which has been calling for better coordination in the satellite industry.
Still, Hugh Lewis, a space debris expert and professor of astronautics at the University of Birmingham, tells PCMag: “The collision concern will only grow with more satellites.” He’s even warned of a potential 10% collision risk from existing satellite constellations.
SpaceX didn’t respond to a request for comment. But Stargaze will provide free real-time data about floating objects in space within minutes, rather than hours under current industry standards, the company said last week.
Starlink satellite models. The company aims to launch V3 satellites this year using its Starship vehicle. (Credit: SpaceX)
Whether Stargaze will become available to researchers is unclear. However, Lewis notes that SpaceX also plans on dropping the altitudes of 4,400 Starlink satellites, citing a lower density of space junk and improved safety.
“I think one could reasonably infer from this statement that SpaceX was itself concerned about the collision risks and perhaps could not continue to maintain the safety of the constellation in its existing configuration,” Lewis tells PCMag.
The problem is SpaceX is now eyeing one million satellites for its orbiting data center plans. “So, how does this fit with a new filing for more than an order of magnitude more satellites across LEO [low-Earth orbit], including at altitudes where the atmospheric drag is negligible and where failed satellites will remain for tens of thousands of years?” he asks.
“Even if the failure rate is very low, say 0.1%, when applied to a fleet of one million satellites this still means 1,000 failed satellites per replenishment cycle. It’s difficult to see how the accumulation of debris can be avoided at many LEO altitudes. It all seems highly inconsistent,” he adds.
To avoid such collisions, Starlink satellites have been equipped with thrusters, enabling them to maneuver away from danger. From June to November 2025, the satellites performed 148,696 propulsive maneuvers to maintain a safe orbit, the company recently told the FCC. But that’s a massive increase from the 6,873 maneuvers performed between December 2021 and May 2022, when the Starlink constellation numbered around 2,300 satellites.
About Our Expert
Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
Experience
I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. Earlier this year, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how President Trump’s tariffs will affect the industry. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
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