Sixty satellites and a different bet
Published 11 October 2026
SpaceX sent the first batch of sixty Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral late on May 23, 2019, local time. The launch was early May 24 in UTC. A Falcon 9 carried the payload, and about an hour after liftoff the satellites were released as planned. The rocket's main-stage booster returned to a barge in the Atlantic. Two earlier countdowns had been stopped, one because of high winds and the other to update satellite software and check the systems again. The successful launch was therefore a beginning rather than a completed network. SpaceX still needed to establish whether every satellite deployed in the batch was functioning properly. reuters.com, First satellites for Musk's Starlink internet venture launched into orbit, 2019-05-24
Each of the sixty satellites weighed about 227 kilograms, Reuters reported. Together they were the heaviest payload SpaceX had carried to that point. The plan behind them was much larger than the batch: Musk spoke of an eventual twelve thousand satellites and a pace of as many as two thousand satellites per year. Those were objectives, not completed deployments. He also said that at least twelve launches with similar payloads would be needed for constant internet coverage across most of the world. The distinction was essential to the venture. One successful flight could prove deployment, but continuous communications would require a constellation. A satellite passing over an area could not by itself deliver the persistence promised by the service. reuters.com, First satellites for Musk's Starlink internet venture launched into orbit, 2019-05-24
Musk's proposed business was to beam high-speed internet to paying customers around the world. It would add a recurring service to a company already selling launches. He expected launch-service revenue to top out at roughly three billion dollars a year and saw Starlink as a source of income for his larger space ambitions. In his description, the communications network could help pay for a new spacecraft, journeys to the Moon and a settlement on Mars. The ambition placed an internet connection inside a much larger financial plan. Starlink was expected to support customers on Earth while producing money for projects beyond it. Its commercial future therefore mattered to more than the viability of a single broadband product. reuters.com, First satellites for Musk's Starlink internet venture launched into orbit, 2019-05-24
Global aspiration did not mean global permission. At the time of the launch, Reuters reported that Starlink was authorized only for operations in the United States. SpaceX was also entering a field with competitors. OneWeb had already launched a batch of its own satellites, while LeoSat and Telesat were developing data networks. Starlink was distinctive in its relationship to SpaceX's launch operations, but it was not the only attempt to use low Earth orbit for communications. The launch demonstrated a company's progress within an emerging market. Access to other countries remained a separate issue from the orbit reached by its hardware. A network could be designed to cover the world without having permission to serve every part of it. reuters.com, First satellites for Musk's Starlink internet venture launched into orbit, 2019-05-24
The change in orbital distance explains why this generation of networks was different from conventional geostationary communications. TRAI's later technical account distinguishes geostationary satellites, roughly thirty-six thousand kilometres above Earth, from satellites in medium and low Earth orbits. A geostationary spacecraft appears fixed when viewed from the ground. Satellites in the lower orbits move across the sky, so operators use a fleet to provide continuous service. The closer orbit is therefore part of a system design, not a simple replacement of one high satellite with one low satellite. reuters.com, First satellites for Musk's Starlink internet venture launched into orbit, 2019-05-24 trai.gov.in, TRAI consultation paper, April 2026
TRAI's account of the technology also separates three parts of a satellite communications system: space, control and ground. The satellites are the space segment. Ground-based control facilities handle commands, monitor payloads and manage traffic or resources on board. Earth stations send and receive the communications. Among them are user stations, gateway stations connecting the space network to terrestrial networks, and hubs that collect or distribute information. This is the physical background to the new constellation, rather than an event in its regulatory history. The system does not end at the satellite. A working service includes the equipment through which a customer gains access and the facilities that carry the traffic from orbit into other networks. trai.gov.in, TRAI consultation paper, April 2026
Gateways make that connection tangible. They route and coordinate traffic between the satellite and terrestrial parts of the system. With conventional geostationary satellites, a fixed antenna can maintain a stable link to a spacecraft that appears stationary. Non-geostationary networks require tracking, rapid beamforming and interference management because their satellites move. Their narrower beams can also make multiple gateways necessary over a large geographical area. Those engineering needs complicate the appealing image of internet falling directly from the sky. The signal may reach a user's terminal from space, but the service still depends on a managed ground network. The new orbit changes the ground requirements rather than removing them. trai.gov.in, TRAI consultation paper, April 2026