Battle for the Final Frontier: Starlink vs OneWeb vs Kuiper vs Telesat Lightspeed
Starlink has launched over 8,000 satellites since 2019, serves 125 countries, and by April 2025 reached the 250th dedicated Starlink launch, establishing SpaceX’s network as the largest in orbit. OneWeb, founded in 2014, began Gen1 launches in 2019 with 618 of 648 satellites deployed by March 2023, filed for Chapter 11 in 2020, was rescued by a UK/India $1 billion bailout, and merged with Eutelsat in September 2023. Project Kuiper, unveiled in 2019, has FCC approval for 3,236 satellites, started production with 27 satellites launched in April 2025 on an Atlas V, uses three shells at 590–630 km with inclinations