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SpaceX is building the world’s most advanced broadband satellite infrastructure. The company hopes that the Starlink broadband division could one day generate enough revenue to fund the ultimate goal of building the first sustainable city on Mars. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said that once the Starlink constellation is complete, the company could work on ways to build a communications infrastructure between the Red Planet and Earth.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has a bold vision for the Starlink Internet network. He aims to connect rural and remote communities around the world to reliable internet and also provide global maritime coverage to serve cruise ships at sea, commercial airlines, as well as Starships in Earth orbit, on the Moon, and beyond. On Sunday, February 20, Musk shared that he was using the Starlink service “in the air” while traveling on an airplane. A Twitter user asked him –“How soon until other aircraft can use it?” to which Musk responded –“Depends mostly on FAA certification, but hopefully within 6 months. We’re testing on Gulfstreams to debug issues, but deployment priority is commercial airliners.” The company needs approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate Starlink antennas aboard aircraft. Last year, Musk said that Starlink will be capable of providing “low latency ~half gigabit connectivity in the air!”
Depends mostly on FAA certification, but hopefully within 6 months.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 20, 2022
We’re testing on Gulfstreams to debug issues, but deployment priority is commercial airliners.
On November 30, 2021, SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Jonathan Hofeller participated in a panel discussion at the Airline Passenger Experience Association where he talked about the Starlink satellite broadband network. Hofeller said that SpaceX aims to offer Starlink internet service to airlines “as soon as possible,” stating that they are already testing it with several aircraft. “We’re in talks with several of the airlines,” he said, “We have our own aviation product in development… we’ve already done some demonstrations to date, and looking to get that product finalized to be put on aircraft in the very near future.” Starlink is undergoing testing on Gulfstream jets since last year. Musk says SpaceX’s main focus is on obtaining a license to provide internet aboard Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 aircraft, “as those serve the most number of people.”
If SpaceX receives approval, Starlink will operate aboard airplanes and sea-going vessels where internet communications are not reliably available. “Granting this application would serve the public interest by authorizing a new class of ground-based components for SpaceX’s satellite system that will expand the range of broadband capabilities available to moving vehicles throughout the United States and to moving vessels and aircraft worldwide,” SpaceX told the FCC in mid-2021, “The urgency to provide broadband service to unserved and underserved areas has never been clearer. U.S. and worldwide demand for broadband services and Internet connectivity continues to increase with escalating requirements for speed, capacity, and reliability and ongoing adaptations for usage.”
Visit Starlink.com for more information.
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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.
