Now Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced the availability of the Starlink service for marine vessels. This follows the launch of thousands of SpaceX satellites into low earth orbit (LEO), promising incredibly low-latency IP networks with download speeds of up to 350 mbps. Although many Starlink Customers also reside in cities and other well-connected areas, the company’s primary goal is to connect communities that currently do not have access to the Internet or have insufficient connectivity. Satellites for Internet connections at sea can cost a cruise line a huge amount of money, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars – marine communications companies that lease bandwidth can pretty much charge whatever they want. Now, with a one-time $10,000 equipment purchase and $5,000 monthly fee for two Starlink terminals, cruise ships can dramatically reduce their costs for potentially much faster service. How will this affect the operations of other satellite companies and what opportunities does it open up for cruise lines? Let’s dig a little deeper. About: SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation launches in photos
Nikos Kyriakidis is the co-founder and CEO of netTALK CONNECT and netTALK MARITIME. (Image: Nikos Kyriakidis)
Faster speeds but limited coverage
SpaceX filed a request at the end of last year with the International Bureau of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with the Commission allowing the temporary use of Starlink satellites at latitudes greater than 53 degrees. The new optical link, or laser, will be used to serve consumers around the world. “On-orbit laser links can reduce latency over long distances by up to 50%, due to the higher speed of light in vacuum and the shorter path than undersea fiber.” Elon Musk explained in a tweet last year (opens in a new tab). Many cruise ships have already switched to Starlink since the service launched last month. One company claimed that by connecting Starlink to geostationary satellite internet (VSAT), latency was reduced by 95% and costs were reduced by 70%. Additionally, an account by a journalist testing internet speeds on a Royal Ferries cruise ship found that ‘The Surf & Stream’ service reported a download speed of 77.03 mbps and an upload speed of 15.72 mbps. According to the account, they could stream movies and shows without any storage whatsoever. The main drawback is that the service currently only works in the coastal waters of the US (except Alaska), Europe (except the majority of Norway, Sweden and Finland), Australia, Brazil, Chile, the majority of southern Australia and New Zealand. SpaceX claims it will gradually expand the service to new regions starting in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Fighting talk from other players
There’s no doubt: Starlink’s moves are putting other satellite providers in a difficult position. However, some don’t seem too concerned. A spokesman for UK-based satcoms company Inmarsat recently said: “When you look at some of our competitors, particularly what you call new entrants (SpaceX and OneWeb), they’re just not well positioned to meet market needs — it’s very difficult to provide that kind of coverage.” “First-generation LEO constellation operators do not have the means to provide the safety and resilience that customers need,” he added. While this approach may seem brash and aggressive, the lack of coverage is certainly a potential sticking point depending on the location of the cruise line’s operations. The other satellite provider mentioned in the quote, OneWeb, has already been bailed out in the past with a £400m investment from the UK government. Since SpaceX has already launched more than 3,000 Starlink satellites, the company is well positioned to continue expanding its business into the cruise ship industry. There is no doubt that offering low-latency internet to cruise ships through Starlink Maritime’s service could be transformative. Cruise ships will be able to provide customers with activities that only high download speeds can offer, such as unbuffered video streaming or video chatting with loved ones. Other operators will have to dramatically increase their LEO satellite throughput or adopt similar technology to Starlink Maritime to compete in the coming years. Nicholas Kyriakides (opens in new tab) is co-founder and COO of both netTALK CONNECT (opens in a new tab) and netTALK MARITIME (opens in a new tab). Contributed this article to Space.com Expert Voices: Op-Eds and Insights. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or enabled Facebook (opens in a new tab).
