Satellite operator Viasat has lost most of its United States broadband customers since SpaceX launched Starlink, dropping from 603,000 subscribers to roughly 100,000. The rapid decline represents a sixfold drop in American consumer subscribers since the rival service became available to the general public in 2020.
The losses have continued at a steady pace through 2026. In the third quarter of 2026 alone, Viasat lost another 15,000 users. On average, the customer base has been shrinking by about 5,000 subscribers each month as the rapid rollout of Starlink alters the competitive landscape across the satellite internet market.
Different satellite architectures
Both companies compete for satellite internet subscribers, but their services depend on very different engineering approaches. Viasat relies on massive geostationary spacecraft, including its ViaSat-3 fleet, placed in orbit at an altitude of 35,786 kilometres. Satellites in geostationary orbit remain fixed over a single spot on the Earth, allowing wide geographical coverage with fewer spacecraft.
SpaceX has taken a different approach with Starlink, launching thousands of small satellites into low Earth orbit at an altitude of approximately 550 kilometres. Operating closer to the surface allows the network to deliver minimal signal latency of between 20 and 40 milliseconds, which makes the connection fast enough for competitive video gaming and seamless video conferencing.
Commercial aviation and government contracts
Viasat has a much higher latency of around 600 milliseconds because signals must make the long journey to deep orbit and back. That delay can cause noticeable pauses in interactive browsing. However, Viasat offers high channel capacity and bandwidth, making its network particularly valuable for specialized commercial users rather than residential homes.
Those capacity advantages allow Viasat to focus heavily on high bandwidth contracts for commercial aviation, maritime shipping, and government defense orders. In addition to satellite internet, Viasat operates as an international telecommunications corporation. The company maintains a presence in multiple countries through satellite television services and paid broadcast channels operated under different regional corporate entities.
