SpaceX to launch satellites the size of a pickup, which could make your internet 10x faster

I’m a bit of a space nerd. So when I saw this, I thought you’d like to know, too.

On Sept. 28, while you’re pouring coffee, SpaceX will try to put Starship into orbit for the first time. Riding along: 26 new Starlink satellites that could make your internet faster than cable’s best plan.

Here’s what you need to know.

🛰️ The pickup truck in space

Starlink satellites weigh about 1,270 pounds. Picture a golf cart with two people in it. The new V3 model is a different animal. SpaceX hasn’t published the number, but FCC filings point to 4,400 to 5,500 pounds. That’s a Ford F-150 flying 210 miles over your house.

Bigger means faster. One V3 pushes 1 terabit per second of downlink. The previous model does 96 gigabits. That’s 10 times the capacity, which SpaceX says is enough to deliver gigabit speeds to homes.

Put that in living-room terms. One of these satellites could stream 40,000 Netflix movies in 4K at the same time. One. And SpaceX says it eventually wants 100,000 of them up there.

About 11,100 Starlinks now serve 13 million broadband customers. Rural America wins big here. If the cable trucks won’t drive out to you, this is your story.

🔥 What happens when one breaks?

Short answer: Nobody fixes it. There’s no repairman in orbit, and no one will reboot from a laptop at SpaceX’s hub in Hawthorne, Calif.

Each Starlink is designed to last about five years. When data says it’s sick or worn out, it fires its own thrusters, lowers itself and steers toward the open ocean. Around 78 miles up, it burns. SpaceX says 95% vaporizes.

This is happening constantly. One or two Starlinks burn up every single day. SpaceX deorbited 260 from December to May, and 406 in 2024 after a defect in the first generation.

FYI, that slow “shooting star” breaking into pieces? Probably a Starlink coming home.

Astronomer Jonathan McDowell has a worry worth hearing. If even 1% of SpaceX’s satellite constellation dies before they can steer themselves down, that would mean hundreds of truck-size derelicts nobody controls. He calls that Kessler syndrome territory, where one collision cascades into thousands.

📺 Watch it live

Launch window opens Monday, Sept. 28 at 8:15 a.m. ET (5:15 a.m. Pacific). Streams are free at spacex.com/launches and on X. I’ll be up at 5:15 with my matcha tea.

Fun fact: The rocket is 408 feet tall, 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. Starship will circle Earth six times over 10 hours, drop off the satellites, then splash down in the Pacific.

FYI, Starship has never reached orbit. July’s launch was a test. This one’s the real thing.

I don’t tell satellite jokes. They’re always over your head, and they never land.

🗣️ Text/post this stat: One new Starlink satellite can stream 40,000 Netflix movies in 4K at once. SpaceX wants 100,000 of them. GetKim.com

📩 Send this to someone who thinks satellites last forever.