Some airlines offer internet connection in flight. Although it is a service that is far from reaching the stability and speed of that offered on land, it is the only alternative for those who need to be connected at all times and places. But this scenario could change in the short term. Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet company, wants to offer its service on airplanes “ as soon as possible “.
The vice president of commercial sales of Starlink Jonathan Hofeller said on Tuesday that they are in talks with several airlines to offer broadband connections on commercial flights. Although the executive did not provide further details, Elon Musk did provide some clues. He said on Twitter that the service could reach a limited number of aircraft first, as these need special certification.
At the end of 2020, Starlink applied to the Federal Communications Commission authorization to test its internet service on small Gulfstream jets. But that was just an experimental step to bring service to other, larger aircraft. The company wants to focus on the Boeing 737s and the Airbus A320s . This makes sense since they are two of the most used models today.
Starlink's internet on airplanes is on the way
Credit : Unsplash
At the moment it is not known when Starlink will really begin to offer internet on airplanes, but it is clear that the SpaceX company is growing by leaps and bounds and wants to accelerate its deployment in this regard. As Bloomberg points out, when it finally becomes an in-flight connection provider , it will compete with other large companies in the sector such as Viasat Inc., Intelsat SA, Telesat Corp .
In this sense, SpaceX, Starlink's mother company founded by tycoon Elon Musk, has designed and is already manufacturing the antennas that will be placed on airplanes. These have a technology very similar to that of consumer terminals, but with “with obvious improvements for aviation connectivity,” as revealed by Hofeller in the middle of this year.
Although at the moment there are no details about the characteristics of the service, Starlink seems very confident that they will make a difference. “In general, passengers and customers want a great experience that systems they just can't deliver, ”added Hofeller.
SpaceX currently offers speeds on the ground between 100 Mbps and 200 Mbps and a latency of 20ms in most places. The company promises to improve these values as its constellation of orbiting satellites grows and they acquire the ability to communicate with each other. Now it only remains to wait to know how fast users will be able to navigate at more 800 km / h and above 10,000 feet .
