(Credit: Hawaiian Airlines)
SpaceX is seeing major progress in making Starlink an in-flight perk, officially installing the satellite internet system on 500 planes.
SpaceX began integrating Starlink in commercial planes in spring 2022 and announced its latest milestone this week. "500 planes and more every day," SpaceX VP for Starlink Engineering Michael Nicolls tweeted.
This is a huge increase from the end of 2023, when Starlink was installed and used on about 80 aircraft, with another 400 planes on contract to receive the satellite internet.
A year later, the company increased that to 450 aircraft, with over 2,000 additional planes in line to receive the satellite internet, according to SpaceX's annual progress report for 2024.
Starlink is often faster than other in-flight Wi-Fi services, with download speeds ranging from 40 to 220Mbps for passengers, according to SpaceX. On a March 2023 test flight with regional carrier JSX, PCMag found that Starlink downloads averaged 126Mbps, with uploads at 7.6Mbps.
More Americans will also start encountering Starlink on their flights this year. United Airlines plans to install it on hundreds of passenger jets before the end of the year and start rolling out Starlink-powered in-flight Wi-Fi this spring.
Starlink is also coming to Hawaiian Airlines—which has merged with Alaska Airlines—Qatar Airlines, Air France, and Scandinavian Airlines, among others. An FAQ from SpaceX adds that Starlink equipment currently supports two Airbus and two Boeing aircraft models, including the 737 and 777, in addition to several smaller passenger jets.
For airlines, the Starlink equipment isn’t cheap. In the past, the company charged $150,000 to install a dish on a plane and $10,000 per month to receive unlimited internet data.
SpaceX also supports customers using its Starlink Mini dish on small planes. But the company notes: "This use of Starlink Mini has not been certified or otherwise approved by the FAA or any other civil aviation authority."