Starlink Coverage Expands as Some Countries Raise Regulatory Concerns

By Katharina Buchholz, Statista. Reviewed by Irfan Ahmad, DIW. 

As of August 2026, Starlink by Elon Musk's company SpaceX covered almost all of South America and had launched official service in more than 25 African countries. The service needed to overcome obstacles to expand, as some governments around the world have reservations about it due to the resource not being easily controlled and potentially shut off compared to regular broadband or cellular internet. Again others have voiced concerns about illegal actors like militias or drug smugglers using it. However, many countries have made a turnaround, and Starlink could recently launch in countries like Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Listed as pending regulatory approval on Starlink's website are the countries Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. These nations mostly have strict laws around foreign actors in the telecommunications sector or cite national security concerns. For one country that tightly controls its internet, China, Starlink did not list an intention to launch service. The same was true for Russia, Belarus, Syria, Afghanistan and North Korea.

Starlink satellite internet has been also been deemed critical for the Ukrainian war effort. Experts believe that as of now, there is no satellite internet service that can replace Starlink for this function. However, more so-called satellite constellations, typically consisting of low Earth orbit satellites that can provide fast, stable and low-latency internet, are being launched. Musk vowed earlier in March that he would never disable Starlink in Ukraine.

In 2025, Starlink also made the news due to regulatory woes in South Africa, Musk's country of birth. Reportedly, South Africa's wide-ranging affirmative action laws have been a hurdle for the company gaining an operating license there.

Chart: Statista

Read next:

• Why AI wants you to buy more – and mindfulness could help you buy less

• Many Google Blogger Blogs Return After Automated Malware Misclassification, but Some Users Still Report Problems