Starlink's New Gen 3 Dish Targets Gigabit Speeds by Year-End

HAWTHORNE, Calif. — Starlink is about to get dramatically faster. SpaceX's satellite-internet arm has begun rolling out its Performance Gen 3 terminal and says download speeds for the new hardware will roughly double by the end of 2026 — pushing the fastest Starlink plans into gigabit territory for the first time.

The Performance Gen 3 dish, aimed initially at maritime and high-demand business users, currently delivers around 475 Mbps down and 75 Mbps up. SpaceX says a satellite-driven boost will lift downloads toward 950 Mbps — knocking on the door of 1 Gbps — by December 31. The kit lists for about $2,000, and it is the clearest sign yet that the newly public SpaceX's soaring value rests on a satellite business that is still accelerating.

Powered by V3 Satellites — and Starship

The speed jump is tied directly to SpaceX's third-generation satellites, which offer roughly 10 times the throughput of the current generation. Those satellites are big and heavy enough that they can only ride to orbit on Starship — which is exactly why the first operational Starlink V3 satellites matter so much to the roadmap.

The timing could hardly be better. With Starship having just reached orbit, SpaceX now has the heavy-lift capacity it needs to deploy V3 satellites at scale and unlock the capacity gains it has been promising customers.

Land Users Are Next

Business customers on land are slated to see the gigabit upgrade in 2027 as the V3 constellation fills out. SpaceX is also reworking its service tiers as capacity expands — a sign the network is shifting from a scramble for bandwidth toward genuine abundance.

A Widening Lead

Starlink already serves millions of customers across more than 150 countries, and no rival is close to matching its combination of coverage, price and now speed. As reporting on the gigabit plan noted, the upgrade still depends on launching V3 satellites at a steady clip — but with Starship now flying to orbit, that dependency looks less like a risk and more like a schedule.

For maritime operators, remote enterprises and eventually everyday power users, the message is clear: the ceiling on satellite internet is about to move up sharply, and SpaceX is the one raising it.