Image: Starlink
Starlink’s grip on the global satellite internet market is getting harder to ignore. According to Ookla’s newly released 2025 Global Satellite Broadband Performance Report, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services — led overwhelmingly by SpaceX’s Starlink — are rapidly reshaping what space-based internet looks like for consumers around the world.
Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence data shows just how dominant Starlink has become. Since 2019, SpaceX has launched more than 10,790 Starlink satellites, helping the service grow to roughly 9.2 million customers globally. In the third quarter of 2025 alone, Starlink accounted for an eye-popping 97.1% of all global satellite Speedtest samples, with traditional GEO providers like Viasat and HughesNet trailing far behind at 1.7% and 1.0%, respectively. That level of usage makes Starlink less of a challenger and more of the default option for satellite internet almost everywhere.
Performance is a big part of the story. Median download and upload speeds have continued to climb across Starlink’s major markets, while latency has dropped sharply — a key advantage of LEO satellites orbiting much closer to Earth than geostationary systems. Even in Starlink’s worst-performing markets, latency remains less than half that of the fastest GEO satellite connections measured by Ookla. In places like New Zealand, Kenya, and Uruguay, Starlink’s latency now rivals some terrestrial broadband options, making real-time activities like video calls and gaming far more viable than they ever were on satellite.
Geographically, the United States remains Starlink’s largest market, accounting for more than one in five Speedtest samples, followed by countries like Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and Canada. Brazil, in particular, has quietly become a major growth engine, recently hitting one million users on its own. All of this growth has been fueled by SpaceX’s relentless launch cadence, which saw Starlink satellites make up the vast majority of the company’s 165 orbital launches in 2025.
Still, competition is coming. Amazon’s Project Kuiper — now branded Amazon Leo — is steadily building its own LEO constellation and promises speeds up to 1 Gbps. Other players, including China-backed constellations, Canada’s Telesat Lightspeed, and even Blue Origin’s planned TeraWave network, are also aiming to carve out pieces of the market. But for now, Ookla’s data makes one thing clear: Starlink isn’t just ahead, it’s defining the consumer satellite internet experience.
For a much deeper dive into the data, performance trends, and what’s next for satellite internet, be sure to check out Ookla’s full 2025 Global Satellite Broadband Performance Report.
