As of August 2025, the number of Starlink satellites in orbit has exceeded 8,100, with 1,786 deployed in 2025 alone. Falcon 9 has been launched 100 times this year, with the total number of launches reaching 528. The first stage has been recovered 489 times and reused 454 times. This unprecedented launch rhythm has caused SpaceX to expand its space infrastructure at an alarming rate. StarShip will also conduct its 10th test flight on August 25, 2025. At that time, the first stage will be recovered at sea in the Gulf of Mexico, and the second stage will carry out tests such as simulated load deployment, engine re-ignition, and controlled splashdown of the rocket body. Once Starship has the ability to undertake missions, it will significantly reduce space transportation costs and reshape SpaceX’s technical capabilities and commercial landscape.<\/p>\n
With the massive launches of SpaceX, Starlink has built a satellite Internet network covering the world. With continuous breakthroughs in technology and the continuous increase in the number of satellites, Starlink’s application scenarios continue to expand. The synthetic aperture radar carried by Starlink satellites can penetrate clouds for ground monitoring, and can even identify vehicle models and personnel movement patterns with artificial intelligence algorithms.<\/p>\n
With the global expansion of Starlink services, SpaceX has formed the prototype of a “Starlink encirclement” around my country. Six countries around my country’s South China Sea, including the Philippines and Malaysia, have accessed Starlink. In addition, on March 26, 2025, Vietnam officially approved the trial operation of Starlink satellite Internet services in Vietnam, and allowed SpaceX to fully control its Vietnamese subsidiary. On August 13, 2025, Starlink launched services in Kazakhstan, and is expected to launch Starlink services in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan in 2026. The rapid development of Starlink in my country’s surrounding areas will, on the one hand, greatly increase the possibility of the US military strengthening regional situational awareness. On the other hand, it will greatly squeeze the overseas market space of our country’s satellite Internet companies and affect the global adoption of relevant technical standards. For countries such as Vietnam, choosing SpaceX means being deeply integrated into their technology ecosystem and standards system, which will most likely affect the future direction of satellite communication standards in the Asia-Pacific region to a certain extent.<\/p>\n
Starlink not only provides services in authorized areas, but there are also cases where Starlink services are used through smuggled Starlink terminals in unauthorized areas. Starlink terminal smuggling is very rampant and has formed a huge black market industry chain. In March 2025, Thailand’s special operations force uncovered a major smuggling case at the checkpoint in Mae Sot County, Tak Province. 38 boxes of Starlink satellite receivers were planned to be illegally smuggled to the Myawaddy area of \u200b\u200bMyanmar for use by local electronic fraud gangs. Behind this rampant smuggling operation is an extremely professional smuggling chain. The smuggling team first transports the terminal equipment from the country of origin (mainly the United States) to transportation hub cities such as Chiang Mai and Bangkok in Thailand through international packages; then it is packaged locally to avoid X-ray machine detection, and then disguised as ordinary goods (using Makro and Shopee food and other commercial labels), use the assistance of internal personnel of the logistics company to launder the goods through formal logistics channels; finally hire uninformed or vulnerable groups (such as students, low-income people) as transportation vehicles, and transport them by land to the border areas of Thailand and Myanmar, such as Mae Sot County, Tak Province, and finally enter the gathering places of electronic fraud parks such as Myawaddy, Myanmar. Starlink terminal smuggling has become a major threat to the security and stability of Southeast Asia. It not only encourages transnational criminal activities such as telecommunications fraud, but also poses new challenges to national sovereignty and regional security. The case of Myanmar anti-government armed forces using Starlink shows that even though the Myanmar military government strictly controls and blocks the domestic Internet, Myanmar anti-government armed forces can still use Starlink to build communication channels that are difficult to completely block, thereby completing activities such as information release, action coordination, and soliciting external support. This has changed the information warfare pattern in war conflicts to a certain extent and exposed local conflicts to the risk of escalation and complexity.<\/p>\n
What is even more noteworthy is that the current international space law and telecommunications regulatory frameworks are obviously inadequate in the face of new space activities such as Starlink. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty is the cornerstone of international space law. Although its Article 4 clearly prohibits the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in orbit, there is a legal vacuum in the militarized application of “dual-use” satellites. Starlink satellites have dangerously approached our country\u2019s space station many times, and the European Union has also made emergency adjustments to its orbit because Starlink has repeatedly approached meteorological satellites. These all show the shortcomings of current international space regulatory measures. As a private company, SpaceX’s decision-making process lacks transparency and accountability. Musk’s political preferences, business interests, and personal ideas may directly affect the supply of Starlink services, thereby affecting the international security situation, thus creating new global governance problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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