SpaceX has somewhat turned space into a factory operation. Adding 53 satellites in one day is more than impressive. It’s what you can call an industrial scale manufacturing that’s happening in orbit.
The active satellites number of 7900 tells the real story. SpaceX plans to build a massive spider web of 12000 satellites with a possible expansion to 42000 satellites later on. They’re already two thirds of the way to their first target and they’re now launching at least one Starlink mission per week with each rocket carrying roughly two dozen satellites.
Amazon has to meet a Federal Communications Commission deadline to launch half its total constellation (or 1618 satellites) by July 2026. Amazon launched 27 satellites on April 28, 2025. SpaceX just launched double that in a single day.
SpaceX’s speed creates numerous advantages. Their speed has helped Musk’s company gather more than 5 million internet users across 125 countries. That revenue funds more than just launches. Starlink has built up a spider web of roughly 8000 satellites and signed on more than 5 million customers around the world while their competitors are still getting started.
Using both Florida and California launch sites on the same day is smart. It reduces delays and speeds up deployment. This flexibility is highly crucial as satellite internet becomes even more relevant.
For competitors, SpaceX launching dozens of satellites weekly creates a problem.Thier first mover advantage gets stronger regularly. More satellites mean better coverage. Better coverage means more customers. More customers mean more money for even faster expansion.
This isn’t just about technology anymore. It’s about execution speed and manufacturing scale. SpaceX has both and the gap is visibly widening every launch.
“The early morning launch carried 27 Starlink satellites and the afternoon liftoff lofted 26 more of the relay satellites, expanding SpaceX’s network to more than 7,900 active units, according to satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.”