Plans for SpaceX's Starlink satellites show that the constellation hopes to one day grow to 42,000 strong.
CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, has estimated on Twitter that within the next 18 months, over 4200 Starlink satellites will be operational. When disregarding defunct satellites still in orbit, this number will mean that Starlink satellites make up two-thirds of all operational satellites around Earth. This will also require more than a doubling of active Starlink satellites within the same period.
Before that tweet, Musk said that the progress of his SpaceX Falcon team was going well, which is responsible for the Falcon 9 rockets the Starlink satellites are launched aboard. Since the first Starlink launch in May 2019, over 2,000 Starlink satellites have been sent into orbit, with over 1,600 currently operational.
NASA has previously issued a warning to the FCC regarding SpaceX's request for approval to launch an additional 30,000 Starlink satellites on top of its currently approved 12,000 satellites. Increased satellite density in the atmosphere could impact scientific observations, asteroid detections, add to growing space debris and threaten other satellites or space stations in orbit.