On April 18, SpaceX announced it now offers Starlink Maritime tier service plans. “Boats of all sizes can now get high-speed connectivity on waters all around the world, including lakes, seas, and oceans. New Starlink Maritime plans available,” tweeted the company. The company reduced price to make internet service more accessible for boat owners with a smaller budget.
When SpaceX initially rolled out the Starlink Maritime service in September 2022, it sold customers a hardware kit which included two flat square phased-array antennas for $10,000 USD ($5,000 each) and a monthly internet subscription fee of $5,000 USD, as previously reported by TESMANIAN. The service was designed for cruise lines and other enterprise customers. This week the company significantly reduced prices by 50%, it is now offering one antenna for $2,500 and three tier internet plans in order to make the service more accessible for average boat owners. The company reduced the internet download speed to 220 Mbps (megabits per second) from the previous 350 Mbps to reduce the monthly internet subscription fee to $250 per month which previously cost $5,000 per month.
There are now three tiers to choose from: 50GB (gigabytes) for $250 per month, 1TB (terabyte) for $1,000 per month, and 5TB (terabytes) costs $5,000 per month for “Priority Data” high-speed maritime internet service. The more expensive plan is useful for large cruise ships that provide voyages for hundreds of passengers. The hardware costs $2,500 per antenna for all three internet plans. The Maritime service can be used both on land and at sea. Customers also have the option to pay in one-month increments without a contract.
Boats of all sizes can now get high-speed connectivity on waters all around the world, including lakes, seas, and oceans. New Starlink Maritime plans available → https://t.co/Qa48wjgWjn pic.twitter.com/Zfree42Mee
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 18, 2023
As of today, SpaceX operates a Starlink constellation of around 3,900 satellites that are capable of beaming internet data globally, including the most remote regions like Earth’s oceans. “Starlink Maritime system enables high speed Internet connectivity even in heavy seas and hurricane winds,” said SpaceX founder Elon Musk on September 29, 2022. "Rated for 280+ kph (174+ mph) winds,” he wrote via Twitter. “In addition to withstanding extreme cold, heat, hail, sleet, heavy rain, and gale force winds, Starlink also holds up against rocket engines,” the company said. “Starlink is currently being used to get high-quality video of SpaceX rocket landings at sea, providing continuous coverage in the face of engines capable of generating up to 190,000 lbs of force.”
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Featured Image Source: SpaceX Starlink.com
About the Author
Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
