Just a few days after the FCC granted permission to provide Internet services to vehicles, Starlink made his connection available for barche, navi e yacht. She arrives like this “Starlink Maritime“, Able to provide a download speed up to 350 Mbps during a sea voyage, which is undoubtedly an upgrade from the current lack of connection. The service, however, seems to have only one flaw: a hardware that it will cost 10,000 dollars.
Starlink Maritime, the service that brings the Internet to ships and yachts
The idea of being able to access the Internet wherever you are, even in the middle of the ocean, is undoubtedly tempting. But Starlink Maritime is certainly not the service that anyone can afford. The monthly cost, in fact, is $ 5,000 a month, although customers will have the option to pause it when they decide not to use it. Beyond this, it is quite evident that the monthly cost is quite high, especially when compared to the residential service, available for only $ 110 a month.
In response, Elon Musk immediately tried to explain that Starlink Maritime’s antennas differ from their residential counterpart. “They are high performance dual terminals, which are important for maintaining the connection in rough sea conditions and severe storms.” So the SpaceX CEO made it clear in a tweet. Specifying that these have been designed to withstand “saline mists [e] extreme winds [e] storms “. “Still premium prices obviously, but much cheaper and faster than the alternatives – concludes Musk -. SpaceX was paying $ 150,000 a month for a much worse connection with our ships! ”.
The official page of Starlink Maritime, in fact, reports that the service allows you to connect to the Internet even from the most remote waters of the world. But it’s worth noting that its coverage area is still limited. It will currently only work in coastal waters of the United States (excluding Alaska), Europe (except most of Norway, Sweden and Finland), Australia, Brazil, Chile, South Australia and New Zealand, although Starlink is expected to implement connectivity in multiple locations in the fourth quarter of 2022 and next year.