Elon Musk touted SpaceX’s plan to use Starlink for in-flight Wi-Fi, saying in a tweet on Thursday that the service could add “low latency ~half gigabit connectivity in the air!” CNBC reports: Starlink is the company’s plan to build an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites, known in the space industry as a constellation, designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers anywhere on the planet. SpaceX has launched 1,740 Starlink satellites to date, and the network has more than 100,000 users in 14 countries who are participating in a public beta, with service priced at $99 a month.
Airlines work with satellite broadband providers for inflight Wi-Fi, with Viasat and Intelsat — the latter of which purchased Gogo’s commercial aviation business — two such companies that add connectivity on flights by airlines including Delta, JetBlue, American Airlines and United. But, while existing services use satellites in distant orbits, Starlink satellites orbit closer to the Earth and could boost the speeds that passengers see inflight. SpaceX Vice President Jonathan Hofeller earlier this year said that the company is “in talks with several” airlines about adding Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi, noting that it has an “aviation product in development.” Hofeller also emphasized that Starlink “provides a global mesh,” so that “airlines are flying underneath that global mesh have connectivity anywhere they go.”
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