<p><img src="https://static4.businessinsider.com/image/601038d16dfbe10018dfff70-2400/GettyImages-1236085489.jpg" border="0" alt="Elon Musk" data-mce-source="Joe Raedle/Getty Images"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service has amassed more than 10,000 users across the world, just four months after entering beta, Elon Musk's aerospace company said in a filing Thursday.</p><p>SpaceX said in a <a href="https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1020316268311/Starlink%20Services%20LLC%20Application%20for%20ETC%20Designation.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petition</a> to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that "over 10,000 users in the United States and abroad are using the service today."</p><p>In the petition, SpaceX asked the FCC to be designated an "Eligible Telecommunications Carrier" (ETC), making it eligible for federal cash, including the money from the FCC's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-rural-digital-opportunity-fund-rdof-winners-internet-subsidies-2020-12">Rural Digital Opportunities Fund</a> (RDOF) that it won in December. </p><p>The RDOF is a $20.4 billion effort to spread high-speed internet across America, particularly to rural regions.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-has-lined-up-investors-for-its-next-massive-round-2021-1'r=kd-sub">SpaceX is finalizing a massive new funding round. Here's why investors are clamoring for one of the world's most valuable startups.</a></em></p><p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-rural-digital-opportunity-fund-rdof-winners-internet-subsidies-2020-12">FCC in December awarded SpaceX nearly $900 million</a> to expand Starlink in the US as part of the first phase of the RDOF.</p><p>But SpaceX didn't immediately get the money. It must clear more hurdles and provide more detail on its plansthe ETC is part of this.</p><p>SpaceX said the ETC would help it quickly expand its service to new areas, specifically Alabama, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.</p><p>The petition noted that the space firm won access to those areas under the RDOF.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starlink-spacex-fcc-rural-america-2021-2">SpaceX's award under the RDOF has annoyed small internet service providers</a>, who said on Thursday that the company, as well as other large firms, used "unproven" technology and called on the FCC to "aggressively" vet winning applications.</p><p>The Starlink public beta test, called "Better Than Nothing Beta," now operates in the northern US, Canada, and parts of Europe. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starlink-beta-uk-elon-musk-spacex-satellite-broadband-2021-1">UK regulators approved Starlink</a> in January and Insider spoke to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starlink-first-uk-resident-set-up-spacex-internet-service2021-1">one of the first British users</a> to receive the Starlink kit.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starlink-internet-satellite-public-beta-speed-spacex-mbps-elon-musk-2020-11'utm_source=reddit.com">Speeds vary</a> from 50 Mbps to 150 Mbps, SpaceX said in an email to subscribers when the beta launched. Access costs <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-public-beta-how-to-join-price-cost-subscription-2020-10">$99 a month, plus $499</a> upfront for a kit with a tripod, a WiFi router, and a terminal to connect to the satellites.</p><p>So far, the company has launched more than <a href="https://planet4589.org/space/stats/megacon/starbad.html">1,000 working satellites</a> into orbit via its reusable Falcon 9 rocket. The most recent launch was on Thursday, when the <a href="https://www.spacex.com/launches/">Falcon 9 delivered 60 Starlink satellites</a> into orbit. </p><p>The goal is to build a high-speed internet service which stretches across the world. SpaceX wants to launch <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-internet-satellites-itc-filing-30000-additional-42000-total-2019-10" data-analytics-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="20" data-uri="74fdd6c4289b3d7e9bf0257c569ea267">up to 42,000 satellites by mid-2027.</a></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starlink-spacex-fcc-rural-america-2021-2" >Small internet service providers say SpaceX's Starlink shouldn't get federal funds to expand internet access</a></strong></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starlink-beta-uk-elon-musk-spacex-satellite-broadband-2021-1" >Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service has been approved in the UK, and people are already receiving their beta kits</a></strong></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-starlink-spacex-satellite-internet-business-constellation-fleet-elon-musk-mars" >MONEY FOR MARS: Inside SpaceX's quest to make Starlink the world's top off-planet internet business</a></strong></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starlink-internet-satellite-public-beta-speed-spacex-mbps-elon-musk-2020-11'utm_source=reddit.com" >SpaceX's Starlink internet public beta is giving some users blistering download speeds of more than 210 Mbps, including in rural Montana</a></strong></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-public-beta-how-to-join-price-cost-subscription-2020-10" >Starlink's satellite-internet public beta costs $600 up front, SpaceX saysand some users are dropping even more for better equipment</a></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-starlink-beta-satellite-internet-users-worldwide-2021-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-myths-debunked-wuhan-china-2020-2">Epidemiologists debunk 13 coronavirus myths</a></p>
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