Gary Zhou 
Starlink’s ramp is accelerating, and it is getting undeniable. Just around 19 months since opening pre-orders for the satellite internet system, SpaceX has produced 1 million Starlink terminals.
Initial reports of the feat were reported recently, with space influencers such as @esherifftv noting that SpaceX has produced its 1 millionth Starlink terminal. The space enthusiast noted that she was able to acquire the information from a source who works at SpaceX’s Starlink manufacturing facility in Redmond, Washington.
Elon Musk promptly confirmed the news on Twitter, noting that “Starlink now over 1M user terminals manufactured.” This is incredibly impressive as SpaceX only opened pre-orders for Starlink kits in February 2021, just around 19 months ago. Prior to February 2021, SpaceX had only been distributing beta invites for several months.
Starlink promptly gained a lot of traction among consumers. By March 2021, the following month, SpaceX noted that it had received “over half a million” pre-order reservations for Starlink. These included advanced deposits on the Starlink kits themselves. Back then, it was also only available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Mexico.
Starlink has grown significantly since then. Just recently, Elon Musk announced that the satellite internet service now has coverage on all seven continents, including Antarctica. As per images from the National Science Foundation, a Starlink terminal had been installed at the McMurdo Station, a US Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island.
Starlink has not only brought high-speed internet to areas that were previously underserved. It also kept internet connections alive in areas besieged by war, such as Ukraine. Over the course of the war, Ukraine officials have lauded Starlink for maintaining internet connection in key areas of the country despite attacks from Russia.
More recently, Elon Musk also confirmed that Starlink service is now active in Iran, another country embroiled in unrest today. Getting Starlink satellite internet access to Iranian users would be a challenging endeavor, however, as the Iranian government has initiated efforts to block Starlink’s official website in the country.
