HAWTHORNE, CA—SpaceX representatives told the Federal Communications Commission last month that its  Starlink unit is building 120 satellites per month, and that the company has invested more than $70 million to develop and produce thousands of consumer-user terminals per month. Starlink is SpaceX’s ambitious plan to build an interconnected network of about 12,000 small satellites, to beam high-speed internet from orbit to anywhere in the world.

The company has so far launched nearly 600 Starlink satellites and is currently building a system of ground stations and user terminals, to connect consumers directly to its network. Previously, Iridium held the record for the largest commercial satellite constellation; manufacturing satellites at the rate of about six satellites per month at the peak of production.

SpaceX says that nearly 700,000 individuals across the United States are interested in the service, causing the company to request that the FCC increase the number of authorized user terminals to 5 million from 1 million.