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SpaceX building almost 1500 Starlink satellites per year
SpaceX has revealed a few key details about its burgeoning Starlink satellite internet constellation in a recent regulatory presentation, touching on overall investment, user terminal development, and its spacecraft manufacturing capabilities.
Already the single largest satellite constellation in the world by a factor of three or more, Starlink is more than 500 operational satellites strong after just nine months of launches, and the company has at least 5-8 more missions planned between now and the end of 2020. To further expand the world’s largest satellite constellation, though, SpaceX also needs to be the world’s most prolific satellite manufacturer by at least an order of magnitude.
Ever since SpaceX’s first dedicated Starlink launch in May 2019, the company has remained extremely secretive about the unprecedented satellite production infrastructure it also had to develop. Aside from a few comments by CEO Elon Musk and the occasional tidbit from regulatory documents or spaceflight conferences, very little is known and not a single photo has been released. An FCC ex parte presentation with a few specific details thus came as a surprise, revealing that SpaceX is building at least 120 Starlink satellites per month in its Redmond, Washington factory.
Based on past analysis of SpaceX’s Redmond facilities, the company has about 150,000 square feet (14,000 m^2) to work with, of which a third to half is likely dedicated to a satellite assembly line. Despite the relatively small facilities, SpaceX says it is actively building 120 satellites per month – equivalent to at least 1440 spacecraft annually. By mass, it means that SpaceX is churning out more than 30 metric tons (~69,000 lb) of satellites every single month, a figure almost certainly unprecedented in the history of satellite manufacturing.
Sustained over 12 months, that would equate to ~360 metric tons (10% heavier than a fully-fueled Falcon 9 V1.0 rocket) of satellites built every year. In short, with an extremely small (and thus efficient) base of operations, SpaceX is regularly producing a vast quantity of satellites – enough to indefinitely sustain two full Starlink launches per month. At that rate, SpaceX could fairly easily complete the Starlink constellation’s first ~4400-satellite phase in just three years.
Production capacity or efficiency would need to expand significantly for SpaceX to complete the second (~12,000 satellites) and third (~40,000 satellites) phases of the Starlink constellation, By then, though, the first phase would likely be generating substantial revenue, optimistically allowing SpaceX to self-fund future growth or at least dramatically reducing the need for fundraising.
Along those lines, the same FCC ex parte presentation included a note that “SpaceX has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Starlink to date,” including “over $70 million developing and producing thousands of user terminals per month.” In other words, SpaceX has apparently spent less – and possibly much less – than $1 billion designing, manufacturing, and launching almost 600 satellites. For comparison, competitor OneWeb apparently spent more than $3.4 billion and filed for bankruptcy before it had launched even 100 satellites.
That exceptional efficiency will, as CEO Elon Musk has noted several times, hopefully make Starlink the first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet constellation in history to not go bankrupt. The company hopes to begin rolling out a much wider Starlink beta test after the 14th v1.0 satellite launch – currently four launches away. If all goes well during that beta test, Starlink could become the first LEO internet constellation in history to begin generating significant revenue not long after.
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Tesla has expanded the footprint of a massive safety feature worldwide with a recent Software Update labeled as 2026.20.6. The expansion of the “Blind Spot Warning While Parked” feature represents the more widespread availability of the feature, which aims to prevent “dooring.”
Dooring is when a driver or passenger opens a car door into the path of an oncoming road user, usually a cyclist or motorcyclist. It is among the most common types of cycling accidents, the League of American Bicyclists says.
For this reason, Tesla created a feature that warns occupants not to open the door because an object is approaching. The feature will sound a chime, and it will also delay the opening of the door to prevent an incident.
The release notes state (via Not a Tesla App):
“If you attempt to open a door while an approaching object is detected in your blind spot (for example, a bicyclist approaching from behind) a chime sounds, and your door will not open upon initial button press. Wait a short time and press the button a second time to override the warning.”
Tesla initially rolled out this feature back in 2024 with the Model 3 “Highland.” However, it remained with the Model 3 exclusively for over a year; that was until Tesla added it to the Cybertruck this past Spring.
Now, it is making its way to the new Model Y, 2021 and newer Model S, and 2021 or newer Model X.
The prevention of dooring incidents could eliminate many injuries to cyclists, especially in an urban setting. Dooring accounts for 10-20 percent of bike-related crashes in major cities, and over 17,000 dooring-related incidents were treated in the U.S. over the course of a decade. These usually involve fractures, contusions, and head trauma.
Tesla confirmed this morning that it has sent the first production units, manufactured with no steering wheel or pedals, to on-road testing in Austin, sharing video of the first rides with no human controls.
The lack of steering wheels and pedals in the Cybercab aligns with Tesla’s self-certification of Robotaxi as Level 4 SAE, a platform it plans to make widespread through internal vehicles and customer-owned cars that will operate and generate revenue for individuals.
The start of these engineering tests is a major signal for Tesla, which plans to bring driverless, wheel-less, and pedal-less Cybercabs to market in the coming months. With production already well underway at Gigafactory Texas, where the Cybercab is built, there is some inclination to believe the first public rides could happen sooner rather than later.
Engineering tests of the first production Cybercab have begun in Austin pic.twitter.com/fk3KQvcE8a
— Tesla (@Tesla) June 30, 2026
Tesla’s engineering tests will put the Cybercab in real-world scenarios, testing not only the hardware, but more importantly, the software that drives the car around Austin with nobody supervising it within the car.
This is perhaps the biggest part of the internal testing process, especially prior to allowing regular, everyday people to hail the Cybercab for an autonomous ride. These early rides serve as a true benchmark for Tesla: How many rides can it achieve safely? How many miles did it travel consecutively without needing an intervention? What scenarios challenge the Full Self-Driving suite the most?
The proper precautions have already been put into place as well, as Tesla released the First Responders Guide to Cybercab over the weekend, ensuring that emergency services have 24/7 access to Robotaxi Assistance, as well as other boundaries, such as Geofencing features that can be used to redirect autonomous vehicle traffic due to accidents, road closures, construction, or maintenance.
Cybercab seems genuinely close to being added to the Robotaxi fleet in Austin, but Tesla has prioritized safety throughout this entire process. Therefore, we think it could be months before it truly starts giving rides to the public. People have been frustrated with this, but Robotaxi in Austin has a tremendous safety record so far, so the slow rollout has kept people safe and accidents to a minimum.
The most important thing is that Tesla continues to show consistent progress in the Cybercab’s ramp-up toward fleet addition. A few weeks back, we saw the EPA reward the Cybercab a Certificate of Conformity, allowing it to enter the stream of commerce. Then, we saw Tesla add decals, signaling that it was likely about to start testing it publicly. That has now happened.
The next big move will be the announcement of the first rides, so this Summer should be filled with anticipation.
For years, there have been images and videos across social media platforms that have reminded me of when I was a 15-year-old kid teased by “Xbox 720” videos on YouTube. These videos are of the supposed “Tesla Phone” that Elon Musk was secretly developing in between leading Tesla with its electric cars and SpaceX with its reusable rockets.
Would you buy a Tesla phone ? pic.twitter.com/aaTwvvIJit
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 6, 2023
Although Musk has put those rumors to bed several times, it was never completely out of the realm that he could get involved in cell phones in some capacity. Think outside the box and more macro-level, though. Instead of reinventing the computer, Musk reinvented connectivity by developing Starlink with SpaceX.
It could be something similar, TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams said in a note last week, where he hinted SpaceX could be gathering some steam to acquire T-Mobile.
Williams said it would be the “clear choice” for SpaceX if it decided to go through with a network acquisition. He also suggested AT&T.
The move would be possible through selling more of its own stock, which would help SpaceX raise the money to purchase T-Mobile, which would cost roughly $300 billion. It could be one of the moves SpaceX makes post-IPO in terms of an acquisition: it already acquired Cursor AI for $60 billion.
Other analysts, like Dan Ives of Wedbush, believe SpaceX and Tesla will eventually merge into one anyway, and that conglomeration could come as soon as this year, some have said.
The implications of SpaceX purchasing T-Mobile are massive. A combined entity would create a truly ubiquitous network: T-Mobile’s terrestrial 5G towers and Starlink’s growing constellation of Direct-to-Cell satellites. This would essentially eliminate dead zones across the U.S. and potentially globally.
SpaceX would instantly become a full-scale facilities-based carrier with satellite differentiation; a huge advantage. This would pressure AT&T and Verizon heavily.
There are also concerns like a potential reduction in long-term competition, and of course, a deal of that size would face intense scrutiny from government agencies.
The strategic fit is compelling due to the existing Starlink–T-Mobile partnership and complementary technologies (space + terrestrial). It could create a dominant integrated communications player. However, the regulatory, financial, and execution hurdles are enormous — this remains highly speculative with no indication SpaceX is actively pursuing it right now.
Tesla expands massive safety feature worldwide in latest update
Tesla sends production Cybercab with no steering wheel, pedals to on-road testing
