Low Earth Orbit satellites, led by SpaceX’s Starlink, are rapidly reshaping the global market for satellite-based internet, displacing traditional providers and narrowing the performance gap between space and terrestrial broadband, according to recent data from Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence.
Satellite internet has existed for decades, but the rise of LEO technology marks a structural break from older geostationary satellite systems.
Unlike GEO satellites positioned more than 22,000 miles above Earth, LEO satellites orbit a few hundred miles above the surface, significantly reducing latency and enabling speeds suitable for video calls, online gaming, and other real-time applications.
Starlink, commercially launched in 2020, has driven this shift through the scale and pace of its satellite deployments. Since 2019, SpaceX has launched more than 10,700 Starlink satellites, building a constellation that now serves an estimated 9.2 million users worldwide.
Speedtest data show that Starlink accounted for 97.1 percent of all global satellite internet tests in the third quarter of 2025, dwarfing rivals such as Viasat and HughesNet.
Performance gains have followed the expansion. Starlink’s median download speeds have steadily increased across major markets, while latency levels remain far below those of GEO satellite services.
In the third quarter of 2025, Starlink’s highest recorded latency was 282 milliseconds, less than half the best latency posted by any GEO provider during the same period.
The United States remains Starlink’s largest market, followed by Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, and Canada. Network capacity has expanded alongside demand, with Starlink reporting cumulative capacity exceeding 600 terabits per second as of 2025. Cloudflare data show Starlink traffic more than doubled last year.
Traditional satellite operators have struggled to keep pace. Viasat and HughesNet have seen declining subscriber numbers and now deliver speeds roughly three times slower than Starlink in most major markets.
Several GEO operators have responded through mergers or by shifting away from residential internet toward aviation, maritime, and government services.