Skip to main content
DSDownloadSpeed
Technology Types

Satellite Internet

Broadband delivered via orbiting satellites, available nearly anywhere but historically limited by high latency and low speeds until the introduction of low-earth orbit constellations.

What It Means

Traditional geostationary (GEO) satellite internet operates from a 22,236-mile altitude orbit, which imposes a roughly 600 millisecond round-trip latency floor dictated purely by the speed of light, making real-time applications like video calls, gaming, and VoIP painful or unusable. HughesNet and Viasat were the two dominant GEO providers, offering plans at 25 to 100 Mbps with strict monthly data caps of 100 to 300 GB. SpaceX Starlink, launched commercially in late 2020, reinvented the category by deploying a low-earth orbit (LEO) constellation at roughly 340 miles altitude. As of 2024, Starlink operates over 6,000 active satellites and serves more than 4 million subscribers globally, including roughly 1.4 million in the United States. Typical Starlink residential speeds are 50 to 250 Mbps download and 10 to 25 Mbps upload with 20 to 40 ms latency, pricing is $120 per month plus a $599 one-time hardware cost. Amazon Project Kuiper began launching its competing LEO constellation in 2024, and OneWeb operates a business-focused LEO network. Roughly 2% of U.S. addresses have no terrestrial broadband option and depend on satellite, primarily in the Mountain West, Alaska, and tribal lands. Starlink does not qualify for full BEAD preference because NTIA rules prefer fiber, though LEO satellite is allowed as a fallback technology in high-cost locations. In the Broadband Grade, satellite counts as broadband availability but does not add to fiber availability, producing moderate grades in otherwise unserved areas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "Satellite Internet" mean?

Broadband delivered via orbiting satellites, available nearly anywhere but historically limited by high latency and low speeds until the introduction of low-earth orbit constellations.

Why does Satellite Internet matter for internet quality?

Traditional geostationary (GEO) satellite internet operates from a 22,236-mile altitude orbit, which imposes a roughly 600 millisecond round-trip latency floor dictated purely by the speed of light, making real-time applications like video calls, gaming, and VoIP painful or unusable. HughesNet and V...

Related Terms

Fiber Optic (FTTH)
Internet delivered via glass or plastic strands that transmit data as pulses of light, offering the fastest and most reliable residential connections available.
Cable Internet (DOCSIS)
Broadband delivered over coaxial cable TV lines using the DOCSIS protocol, typically offering 100-1,200 Mbps download but significantly slower upload speeds.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
Internet service delivered over traditional copper telephone lines, with speeds that degrade significantly over distance from the provider's central office.
Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)
Broadband delivered wirelessly from a cell tower or base station to an antenna at the customer's location, using 4G LTE or 5G signals.

Learn More

About This Data

Definitions based on FCC standards, industry specifications, and federal broadband policy. Speed benchmarks reflect 2024 FCC standards. See our methodology.

this entity is one of the U.S. internet availability and broadband speed concepts that recurs across this site. The definition above is the technical answer; the paragraphs below add the practical context for how the concept connects to the the FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC) data behind every per-entity page on the site.

In the the FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC) data, this concept shapes one or more of the fields that drive the per-entity grades and rankings on this site. The methodology page describes which fields feed into which output; this glossary entry documents the underlying term.

Source: FCC Broadband Data Collection, 2026.