New Delhi, Oct 20 (NationPress) On Monday, Elon Musk praised the satellite internet service Starlink for reaching a remarkable milestone of launching 10,000 satellites. The company celebrated this achievement on October 19, when a Falcon 9 rocket successfully lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base, carrying 28 Starlink internet satellites.

This launch also marked SpaceX’s 132nd Falcon 9 flight of 2025, matching last year’s record with over two months still remaining in the calendar year.

“Congratulations to both the Starlink and Falcon teams for constructing and launching 10,000 satellites! SpaceX now possesses significantly more satellites in orbit than all other companies combined,” Musk remarked in a post on the social media platform X.

“With more than 10,000 Starlink satellites launched to date, SpaceX is providing reliable high-speed internet access to millions of individuals worldwide,” Starlink shared on X.

The Starlink network, which commenced operations in 2018 with two prototype satellites known as Tintin A and Tintin B, currently serves millions of users globally. Over 8,000 of the Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX are active and operational.

Managed by Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink delivers internet services through a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites and is utilized in remote areas and conflict zones across the globe.

Starlink has received approval to deploy up to 12,000 satellites and intends to eventually expand its network to over 30,000. The service is available in over 150 countries and territories, including a recent approval for use in India.

In other news, SpaceX recently completed the 11th test flight of its massive Starship rocket on October 13. The rocket launched from Starbase, Texas, and successfully splashed into the Indian Ocean after flying for over an hour.

SpaceX's Starship Flight 10 in August also achieved a successful “soft landing” and splashdown, marking the end of a series of earlier failures this year.

With the Starship initiative, SpaceX aims to create a permanent human settlement on Mars.

The US space agency NASA has also selected Starship as the lunar lander for its upcoming Artemis 3 mission, which seeks to land astronauts on the moon for the first time since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s.