Can Starlink stay ahead in satellite internet?

NPR | By Darian Woods,

Wailin Wong, Angel Carreras, Julia Ritchey, Kate Concannon

Published June 30, 2025 at 9:12 AM EDT

Whether you're watching Love Island in an RV or streaming a playlist in a remote California campground, if you're using satellite internet, odds are you're using Elon Musk's Starlink.

Today on the show, we learn how Starlink got such a big lead in the satellite market and if it can stay ahead of the European Union, China, and, of course, Jeff Bezos.

Related episodes:
Elon's giant rocket
Why I joined DOGE (Apple/Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

Tags

NPR Podcasts

Darian Woods

Darian Woods is a co-host of The Indicator from Planet Money.

See stories by Darian Woods

Wailin Wong

Wailin Wong is a co-host of The Indicator from Planet Money.

Angel Carreras

Angel Carreras is an assistant producer for The Indicator from Planet Money. He is a Bakersfield-raised, Cal State Long Beach graduate. He previously worked at KCRW, the NPR member station in Los Angeles. He has produced award-winning and character-driven work, with subjects that have included masked puppeteers, mutual aid groups, and community activists.

Julia Ritchey

Julia Ritchey is an audio journalist with 15 years experience reporting, editing and podcasting all over the country. She's reported from eight states and all four U.S. time zones, most recently at Nashville Public Radio, Tennessee's largest NPR affiliate, overseeing the station's policy, environmental and education beats.

Kate Concannon

Kate Concannon is the Supervising Senior Editor at The Indicator from Planet Money. She leads this small, collaborative team of hosts, reporters and producers in making sense of crucial, but often complex and confusing, economic news in just 10 minutes a day.