Starlink Speeds Improved in Second Half of 2025: Ookla
Ookla found 45 percent of Starlink customers saw median speeds of at least 100* 20 Mbps, up from just 17 percent from early 2025.
WASHINGTON, May 5, 2026 – SpaceX’s satellite broadband service saw a big performance improvement in the second half of 2025, a new Ookla report found.
The research firm found nearly 45 percent of Starlink users saw median speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload in the fourth quarter of 2025. That’s compared to just 17 percent in the first quarter of the year, a jump Ookla described as “making the provider look a lot less like a niche connectivity provider for unserved areas and more like a legitimate broadband competitor.”
Sue Marek, Ookla’s editorial director, wrote in a Tuesday report that much of the improvement came down to SpaceX launching more and more satellites into orbit. The company’s Starlink service is powered by a massive 10,000-satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit.
“The more satellites a constellation has, the more capacity it has to handle subscribers and the faster speeds it can deliver to more places,” she wrote.
The company is also planning to launch its V3 satellites later this year once its new Starship rocket is operational. Dozens of Texas residents sued SpaceX last week claiming damage from sonic booms during Starship test flights.
Ookla’s speedtest data showed median Starlink speeds in excess of the federal 100 * 20 Mbps benchmark for high-speed broadband in the fourth quarter of 2025, the first time the service exceeded the threshold.
Although Ookla found most users still don’t hit 100 * 20 Mbps, it said the improvement is a good sign for SpaceX. The company has committed to provide 100 * 20 Mbps service at 476,000 rural locations under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
Multiple cable operators mentioned competition from Elon Musk's SpaceX during their earnings calls in recent weeks. Executives from both Comcast and Shentel noted SpaceX was offering more promotions in rural areas, and Charter’s CEO said the company’s rural footprint might have done better if Starlink weren’t already offered there.
Still, they downplayed the idea of Starlink as a direct competitor for broadband market share outside rural areas, arguing it would be constrained by capacity limitations. SpaceX charges new customers an extra sign up fee in congested areas.
Marek noted SpaceX more than doubled its global Starlink subscribers over the course of 2025, going from 4.6 million at the end of 2024 to more than 10 million in February. She said it wasn’t clear how many of those were in the U.S., but that the U.S. was Starlink’s largest market.
The Federal Communications Commission voted last week to update satellite spectrum sharing rules and allow LEO operators like Space to use higher power in bands shared with incumbent geostationary systems. SpaceX has told that agency that decision will provide even more capacity and improve its broadband speeds.
SpaceX has some competition on the horizon. Amazon Leo is set to serve nearly 417,000 rural locations through the BEAD program and is in the process of launching its constellation. The company recently hit 302 satellites, but fell behind schedule after launch vehicles repeatedly cancelled. Amazon is asking the FCC for more time to hit 1,618 satellites in orbit, which it's supposed to hit in July 2026.
Amazon is also in the process of buying Globalstar, a bid to improve its direct-to-cell mobile service and compete with SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile.
