SpaceX Completes Fourth Starlink Launch This Month, Deploys 60 More Satellites

SpaceX has completed its fourth Starlink mission in less than a month, placing another 60 broadband satellites into orbit.

With this latest deployment, SpaceX has launched an impressive 240 Starlink satellites so far this month.

The mission used a Falcon 9 rocket, and notably the first stage booster had already flown on five previous missions, demonstrating SpaceX’s continued focus on reusability.

More than 1,000 Starlink satellites are currently in orbit out of the 12,000 that have been authorised. SpaceX has also filed with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) seeking permission to launch up to 30,000 additional satellites, highlighting the company’s long-term plans for a large low Earth orbit broadband network.

SpaceX is launching roughly 60 satellites per mission and aims to deploy about 1,440 satellites by late 2021 to reach near-global coverage. This month alone the company completed launches on the 4th, 11th, 14th and now this latest flight.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper—considered Starlink’s most significant potential competitor—received FCC approval last year to deploy 3,236 satellites of its own, positioning it as a major alternative in the satellite broadband market.

“We are doing an incredible amount of invention to deliver fast, reliable broadband at a price that makes sense for customers,” said Rajeev Badyal, Vice President of Technology for Project Kuiper, when the FCC decision was announced.

Earlier in March, Starlink expanded service across all regions of the UK following a limited trial in southern England, marking another step toward broader commercial availability.

Starlink’s hardware carries a one-time cost of £439, with a monthly service fee of £89. Those prices indicate the offering is aimed primarily at users who lack viable terrestrial internet options—particularly rural communities where high-speed connectivity is otherwise scarce.

“This will transform rural WiFi,” says Nathan Hill-Haimes, co-founder of Compare Fibre. “We are really keen to stress the impact this can have on connecting rural locations with high-speed internet.”

Demand for Starlink appears strong: depending on location, many pre-orders for the user terminal and modem are currently pushed out as far as the end of 2021.

(Image Credit: SpaceX)

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