They've got FCC permission for 15K (also read 12K) and International Telecommunication Union for up to 30,000. Hard to tell how many they'll actually have up at one time.
It's clear that the FCC is banking on SL. Every objection to change to the license (orbital plans) has been approved.
They've also got many of the rural broadband licenses here in the US (including our area). So I think they'll be putting up a lot more to allow low dropout frequency in forested and mountainous areas.
