SpaceX boss Elon Musk has announced a new Starlink broadband service for everything from commercial ships to oil rigs to premium yachts. The satellite-delivered Starlink Maritime broadband service promises “high-speed internet while you’re at sea.”
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Starlink Maritime is much more expensive than the recently released Starlink for RVs, which costs $599 for the hardware plus a $135 monthly service fee.
Starlink Maritime’s hardware consists of two terminals and costs $10,000 plus a $5,000 monthly fee. Starlink software engineer Joseph Scarantino explained on Twitter that Maritime’s dual-dish setup quadruples the throughput to reduce latency and signal loss at sea while creating a wider field of view. Like the standard service, it requires a clear view of the sky.
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Although the price is high, SpaceX claims it is actually much cheaper than traditional very small aperture satellite (VSAT) internet service.
The service is for all maritime vessels, from merchant ships to oil rigs.
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"Starlink Maritime allows you to connect to the internet while traveling at sea, just like you would at the office or at home," the company said.
Starlink Maritime can be paused when not needed and restarted when needed. The service is billed in one-month increments.
SpaceX promises that users will be able to remotely monitor and manage a Starlink fleet from a single portal.
The Starlink Maritime coverage map shows that the service currently covers the coasts of the US, Australia , and Europe. However, SpaceX plans to begin expanding coverage across the North Atlantic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean by Q4 2022, and then begin expanding coverage to the South Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean in Q1 2023.
Information source: zdnet.com
