Elon Musk’s Starlink has hit another stratospheric milestone. SpaceX’s satellite internet venture has now surpassed 9 million active customers worldwide, and it did so in record time, adding an astonishing one million new users in less than seven weeks. In a post on The figure has risen sharply since early November, when the company reported 8 million users. This means Starlink is adding more than 20,000 customers every day, or approximately one new connection every four seconds.

Starlink’s appeal lies in its ability to bring broadband speeds to places where traditional networks can’t reach, from isolated rural areas to ships at sea and even planes in the sky. The service relies on a growing constellation of more than 9,000 low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which Musk calls a “web of connectivity” around the planet.

For users in hard-to-reach locations, the service could be a game-changer. Whether it’s connecting schools in the mountains of Nepal, enabling researchers in Antarctica to video call their families, or offering backup internet in disaster zones, Starlink’s footprint has become truly global.

Its rapid adoption also underlines the world’s hunger for reliable high-speed Internet, especially in areas underserved by fiber or mobile networks. SpaceX is working aggressively to expand coverage, launching new satellites almost weekly on its Falcon 9 rocket.

Musk previously said Starlink could eventually serve “hundreds of millions” of users with speeds and latency equal to or even better than terrestrial broadband.

When will Starlink come to India?

As Starlink continues to grow, speculation about its financial trajectory is also increasing. According to reports, SpaceX is preparing to take Starlink public next year with a potential valuation of around $1.5 trillion, a figure that would make it one of the most valuable spin-offs in tech history. Musk had previously indicated that Starlink’s profitability could make it self-sustaining, allowing SpaceX to focus more on Mars-related missions.

However, one big question remains for Indian users: when will Starlink finally launch here? The company had earlier halted its India rollout in 2021 following regulatory pressure after it started taking pre-orders without license. Since then, SpaceX has been engaging with India’s Department of Telecommunications to obtain the necessary approvals, and recent reports suggest that the company has renewed its efforts to enter the Indian market.

In another recent post, Musk hinted that the Starlink launch in India is imminent. replying to Union minister and billionaire Jyotiraditya Scindia wrote, “Looking forward to serving India with @Starlink.”

Given the ongoing rural broadband gap in the country and Musk’s enthusiasm for expanding Starlink into emerging economies, a launch in India could be a possibility. If approved, it will bring competition to local satellite internet players like Bharti-backed OneWeb and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

However, for now, Indian users can only watch Starlink’s global footprint cross new boundaries, and hope the next million customers join them.