Starlink ended September 2026 with 13.6 million consumer subscribers, up from 7.2 million a year earlier, based on SpaceX’s third-quarter results released October 20. These Starlink subscribers statistics cover quarterly counts, net additions, ARPU, consumer and enterprise revenue, US estimates and Starlink Mobile users, drawn from SpaceX’s SEC filings and earnings call.
Starlink Subscribers Statistics
How Many Starlink Subscribers Are There in 2026?
Starlink had 13.6 million consumer subscribers on September 30, 2026, according to SpaceX, the company run by Elon Musk. The count stood at 12.0 million on June 30, 2026.
Every quarter-end figure SpaceX has published since March 2025 tops the one before it. The base was 5.0 million at the end of Q1 2025.
Year-end counts show the same pattern over a longer stretch. SpaceX reported 2.3 million subscribers at the end of 2023 and 8.9 million at the end of 2025.
| Period end | Starlink subscribers | Year-over-year growth stated by SpaceX |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 2023 | 2.3 million | Not stated |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 4.4 million | 97% |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 8.9 million | 100% |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 10.3 million | 105% |
| Jun 30, 2026 | 12.0 million | Doubled |
| Sep 30, 2026 | 13.6 million | Not stated |
How Fast Is Starlink Adding Subscribers?
SpaceX added 1.6 million consumer subscribers in Q3 2026, after 1.7 million in Q2 2026. The company tied the Q3 gain to growth in developed markets.
CFO Bret Johnsen said SpaceX began ramping V5 kit production in Q3 and steered kit deliveries to retail channels ahead of the holiday season. He said SpaceX expects that to lift Q4 activations.
One Service Line, One Subscriber: How SpaceX Counts
SpaceX defines a Starlink subscriber as a unique Service Line on a Starlink.com account held by a person or entity without a negotiated agreement with Starlink’s sales team. A household with both a Residential and a Roam line counts as two subscribers.
The S-1 notes that several people can share one Service Line. The number of individual end users is therefore likely higher than the subscriber total.
Since Q3 2026, SpaceX labels the metric “Starlink consumer subscribers.” It covers Personal plans (Residential, Roam) and Business plans (Local Priority, Global Priority).
Managed enterprise and government contracts in aviation, maritime, land mobility, fixed sites and government sit outside the count. SpaceX said those add hundreds of thousands of enterprise subscribers.
Starlink was active in 174 markets at the end of Q3 2026, including new launches in Vietnam and Uganda, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said. The S-1 counted 156 countries, territories and other markets at December 31, 2025, home to more than 3.2 billion people.
ARPU Per Starlink Subscriber Rose to $69 in Q3 2026
| Quarter | Monthly ARPU (US$) |
|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | $86 |
| Q2 2025 | $85 |
| Q3 2025 | $83 |
| Q1 2026 | $66 |
| Q2 2026 | $66 |
| Q3 2026 | $69 |
Monthly consumer ARPU rose 5% from Q2 to $69 in Q3 2026. Johnsen attributed the gain to a favorable customer mix.
The Q3 figure remains below the $83 recorded in Q3 2025. SpaceX’s Q2 2026 Form 10-Q put that quarter’s year-over-year ARPU decline at 22.4%, citing international expansion and lower-priced service plans.
Nine-month ARPU was $67 in 2026, against $84 for the first nine months of 2025.
Full-year ARPU fell from $99 in 2023 to $91 in 2024 and $81 in 2025. In its IPO prospectus, SpaceX said it expected ARPU to keep declining over the next few years as more of its base sits outside North America and lower-priced plans grow.
Starlink Subscribers Revenue by Customer Type
Consumer revenue reached $3.12 billion in Q3 2026, up 26% from Q2 and 57% from a year earlier. Enterprise and government revenue grew 91% year over year to $2.13 billion.
The chart covers the quarters SpaceX broke out in its Q2 and Q3 2026 earnings releases.
Starlink was installed on more than 3,800 aircraft at September 30, 2026. Shotwell said about 12,000 planes are under contract.
Connectivity capex was $1.54 billion in Q3 2026. SpaceX’s SI segment, which builds compute for the artificial intelligence market, spent $16.44 billion.
| Connectivity metric (US$ millions) | 9M 2025 | 9M 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer revenues | 5,198 | 7,754 |
| Enterprise & government revenues | 2,961 | 5,042 |
| Connectivity revenues | 8,159 | 12,796 |
| Income from operations | 3,147 | 5,211 |
| Connectivity Adjusted EBITDA | 5,123 | 8,183 |
SpaceX Revenue Mix After Q3 2026: Super Intelligence Passes Connectivity
SpaceX’s Super Intelligence (SI) segment, formerly reported as AI, brought in $7.56 billion in Q3 2026. Connectivity, home to Starlink, followed at $5.25 billion, and Space at $1.77 billion.
Cloud services agreements, the Cursor acquisition and Grok adoption drove the SI jump, per SpaceX. Grok competes for AI market share with chatbots from OpenAI and Google.
Connectivity still led on operating income at $2.37 billion, up 99% year over year. SI earned $431 million, including a $1.2 billion Cursor-related share-based compensation charge, and Space posted a $7 million loss.
Starship Flight 14 delivered 26 Starlink V3 satellites in Q3, about 10 times the downlink capacity a Falcon 9 Starlink launch adds, according to SpaceX.
How Many Starlink Subscribers Are in the US?
SpaceX’s quarterly releases report one global subscriber figure, with no country split. For the US, the available number is an analyst estimate.
New Street Research found in May 2026 that 2.7 million of Starlink’s 10 million global subscribers were in the US. That placed Starlink among the 10 largest US internet providers.
By location, more than 85% of subscribers in the study came from mostly rural areas. By prior service, 20% were former cable subscribers and 10% were new to broadband.
New Street’s figures are estimates, not SpaceX disclosures, and predate the 13.6 million global count.
22 Million Starlink Mobile Users, Counted Separately
Starlink Mobile passed 22 million monthly users at the end of Q3 2026, up 37% from Q2, Shotwell said. SpaceX reports these users apart from its broadband consumer subscribers.
New carrier launches in Q3 covered Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kazakhstan and Costa Rica. In Q2, SpaceX added partnerships with SoftBank, NTT Docomo and Spark NZ.
On October 8, 2026, SpaceX agreed to buy up to 14 MHz of paired 800 MHz spectrum, with closing expected in the first half of 2027. Shotwell said the deal paves the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major US carrier, a market that includes T-Mobile.
The FCC approved 15,000 Mobile V2 satellites weeks before the Q3 call. SpaceX said it plans to fly that constellation through 2027 and turn on service with its new spectrum in early 2028.
FAQs
How many subscribers does Starlink have?
13.6 million consumer subscribers as of September 30, 2026, SpaceX reported. The figure excludes hundreds of thousands of managed enterprise subscribers and more than 22 million Starlink Mobile monthly users.
How many people use Starlink?
More than the subscriber count shows. SpaceX counts each Service Line once, and its S-1 notes that several people can share one line. Its filings report Service Lines, not individual end users.
How much does Starlink make per subscriber?
Consumer ARPU was $69 a month in Q3 2026. That was up from $66 in Q2 2026 and down from $83 in Q3 2025, based on SpaceX’s earnings releases.
Is Starlink profitable?
Yes. SpaceX’s Connectivity segment, which houses Starlink, reported $2.37 billion in Q3 2026 operating income on $5.25 billion in revenue. Operating income rose 99% year over year.
Why do Reddit threads quote different Starlink subscriber numbers?
Definitions differ. SpaceX’s filings count Service Lines and leave out managed enterprise, aviation, maritime and government contracts. Starlink Mobile users are reported separately, and some figures shared on Reddit are analyst estimates, not company disclosures.
References
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1181412/000162828026066482/spaceexplorationtechnologi.htm
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1181412/000162828026052515/earningsreleaseq22608042.htm
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001181412/000162828026036936/spaceexplorationtechnologi.htm
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001181412/000162828026040874/spacexukfwp.htm
