There will be no long-term contracts and unlimited data with Starlink Aviation’s global connectivity in flight, which will cost between $12,500 and $25,000 per month.
Starlink Aviation, SpaceX’s satellite airborne connectivity system, has a website featuring information on the company’s low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite network. The LEO Satcom network will provide worldwide coverage by mid-2023, according to SpaceX.
It includes a phased-array antenna that mounts on top of the fuselage, an aero terminal box, a power supply, and two wireless access points. The company is seeking partners for supplemental type certificates (STC) upgrades, though STCs have already been developed for Bombardier Globals, Challenger 300s, and ERJ-135s; Embraer ERJ-135s, Legacy 600s, and 650s; and Dassault Falcon 2000s, G450s, and G550s. Elon Musk has tested Starlink on the G650, the company founder’s personal computer.
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As of the time of this writing, SpaceX claims that latency (time between packets) to each airborne terminal is as low as 20 milliseconds, and that network speeds will reach up to 350 Mbps (megabits per second). The Starlink website does not provide any information about system capacity constraints, and “all plans include unlimited data.” According to SpaceX, there will be no long-term service contracts.
Service plans will cost $12,500 to $25,000 per month for aircraft hardware and $150,000 for aircraft hardware. A payment of $5,000 is required to reserve a future delivery slot.
