Starlink just launched a new rugged version of their dish for boats, ships, and yachts, which is merely a very few days after the FCC permitted them to provide Internet service to vehicles. This new service is dubbed Starlink Maritime and it delivers up to 350Mbps download speeds while at sea, which is not bad at all for boats that don’t even have an Internet connection up until now. Although this new service is not cheap the hardware alone will cost customers nearly $10,000, which they will have to pay upfront. Service will cost $5000 a month and is very much like the RV service from Starlink. Customers will be able to deposit when it’s not in use and then choose a billing cycle to begin their pause.
According to Elon Musk, Chief of SpaceX, Starlink Maritime antennae differ from the residential counterparts as they are dual high-performance terminals and have the power to maintain connection in very choppy seas and heavy storms as well. The terminals are also designed to be able to withstand, “Relentless salt spray, extreme winds, and storms” Elon Musk then went ahead to say that SpaceX has been paying $150,000 a month for a lot worse connections on their ships.
The product page for the Starlink Maritime Service also mentions that the service will allow users to connect from the most remote waters across the world, and it’s also worth noting that their coverage area is still limited as it will only work in the coastal waters of the USA, Europe (except most of Norway, Sweden, and Finland), Australia, Brazil, and Chile. Although Starlink is expecting to roll out more connectivity in better locations for the fourth quarter of 2022 and next year.
It’s very easy to see that the company had plans for this from a long time back as they had shown a ruggedized dish for boats in plains way back in 2021 and they were supposedly waiting for the FCC to authorize them for a new class of terminals for the satellite Internet service to meet the growing user demands.
