The potential for low-latency communication was also recognized and development offshoots in the 1990s led to numerous commercial megaconstellations using around 100 satellites such as Celestri, Teledesic, Iridium, and Globalstar.

[27] However, these discussions broke down in June 2014, and SpaceX instead filed an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) application via the Norwegian Communications Authority under the name STEAM.

[38] In August 2018, SpaceX consolidated all their Seattle-area operations with a move to a larger three-building facility at Redmond Ridge Corporate Center to support satellite manufacturing in addition to R&D.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said then that the project remained in the "design phase as the company seeks to tackle issues related to user-terminal cost".

[42] In November 2016, SpaceX filed an application with the FCC for a "non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite system in the fixed-satellite service using the Ku- and Ka- frequency bands".

[56] SpaceX later appealed the decision saying they met or surpassed all RDOF deployment requirements that existed during bidding and that the FCC created "new standards that no bidder could meet today".

[65] On December 1, 2022, the FCC issued an approval for SpaceX[66] to launch the initial 7500 satellites for its second-generation (Gen2) constellation, in three low-Earth-orbit orbital shells, at 525, 530, and 535 km (326, 329 and 332 mile) altitude.

The Journal reported that Putin had asked Musk to avoid activating his Starlink satellite system over Taiwan, to appease Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping.

These tests aim at demonstrating that the Equivalent Power Flux Density (EPFD) limit can be safely increased, thus improving the speed and coverage area of Starlink, without affecting classic, geostationary satellites.

[100][101] To improve the service quality in densely populated areas, Starlink introduced a monthly 1 TB data cap for all non-business users which was enforced starting in 2023.

[121][122] While still on active duty, O'Shaughnessy advocated before the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services for a layered capability with lethal follow-on that incorporates machine learning and artificial intelligence to gather and act upon sensor data quickly.

[128] In 2019, tests by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) demonstrated a 610 Mbit/s data link through Starlink to a Beechcraft C-12 Huron aircraft in flight.

[139] Expert on battlefield communications Thomas Wellington has argued that Starlink signals, because they use narrow focused beams, are less vulnerable to interference and jamming by the enemy in wartime than satellites flying in higher orbits.

[158][156] In October 2023 after the Israel–Hamas conflict started, users shared the hashtag #starlinkforgaza on Elon Musk's social network X (formerly Twitter), demanding he activate Starlink in Gaza after Internet service in the region was lost.

[164] In October 2023 and March 2024, the ITU ruled in favor of Iran, dismissing a SpaceX assertion that it should not be expected to verify the location of every terminal connecting to its satellites.

These points will provide a full range of services, including device sales, activation, subscription fee payments, and direct technical support.

[205] The internet communication satellites were expected to be smallsats, 100 to 500 kg (220 to 1,100 lb) in mass, and were intended to be in low Earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of approximately 1,100 km (680 mi), according to early public releases of information in 2015.

[331][332] Starlink's broadband internet service is accessed via flat user terminals the size of a pizza box, which have phased array antennas and track the satellites.

[338] In August 2022, and in response to an open invitation from SpaceX to have the terminal examined by the security community, security specialist Lennert Wouters presented several technical architecture details about the then-current starlink terminals: the main control unit of the dish is a STMicroelectronics custom designed chip code-named Catson which is a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53-based control processor running the Linux kernel and booted using U-Boot.

The satellites communicate with three testing ground stations in Washington State and California for short-term experiments of less than ten minutes duration, roughly daily.

[428] The International Astronomical Union (IAU), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and Square Kilometre Array Organization (SKAO) have released official statements expressing concern on the matter.

[429][430][431][432] On November 20, 2019, the four-meter (13') Blanco telescope of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) recorded strong signal loss[clarification needed] and the appearance of 19 white lines on a DECam shot (right image).

[435][436][437][438] In later statements on Twitter, Musk stated that SpaceX will work on reducing the albedo of the satellites and will provide on-demand orientation adjustments for astronomical experiments, if necessary.

SpaceX uses brightness mitigation for Gen 2 that includes a mirror-like surface which reflects sunlight back into space and they orient the solar panels so that observers on the ground only see the dark sides.

[455][456] Early in the program, a near-miss occurred when SpaceX did not move a satellite that had a 1 in 1,000 chance of colliding with a European one, ten times higher than the ESA's threshold for avoidance maneuvers.

[457][458] In 2021, Chinese authorities lodged a complaint with the United Nations, saying their space station had performed evasive maneuvers that year to avoid Starlink satellites.

[460][456] All these reported issues, plus current plans for the extension of the constellation, motivated a formal letter from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on behalf of NASA and the NSF, submitted to the FCC on February 8, 2022, warning about the potential impact on low Earth orbit, increased collision risk, impact on science missions, rocket launches, International Space Station and radio frequencies.

[468] In October 2015, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell indicated that while development continues, the business case for the long-term rollout of an operational satellite network was still in an early phase.

At the time, SpaceX had provisionally won $886 million for a commitment to provide service to approximately 643,000 locations in 35 states as part of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF).

[471] Additionally, Jim Matheson, chief executive officer of the NRECA voiced concern about technologies that had not yet been proven to meet the high speeds required for the award category.