Today, SpaceX has announced a brand new plan for using Starlink on boats. ‘Starlink Maritime’ allows customers to use the service whilst moving on boats, but it is pretty expensive. SpaceX is targeting the new plan at yachts, other vessels and oil rings.
Starlink Maritime is expensive. First, a $10,000 downpayment will get you two ruggedised high performance Starlink dishes. The power supply is outdoor rated and that larger dish will get you speeds of 100-350Mbps download and 20-40Mbps upload. The service month to month works like Starlink RV, where it can be paused and resumed whenever you need it, but it is $5,000 per month.
Compared to the Residential plan, which is $599 upfront and just $110 per month, this is a lot. The RV plan is $599 up front and $135 per month. However, both of these plans don’t offer use in motion like the new Maritime version.
Starlink will offer the new Maritime service first in coastal waters surrounding the US as well as areas in Europe, the Mediterranean and the North Sea. Down under, Starlink will work in the waters around New Zealand and Australia too. Elon Musk has compared Starlink Maritime to other services that are available, for a quoted $150,000 per month and offer much better quality. However, nether Elon or SpaceX has mentioned what this service is that Starlink is being compared to.
SpaceX shared a video on Twitter to demonstrate the difference:
In addition to withstanding extreme cold, heat, hail, sleet, heavy rain, and gale force winds, Starlink is rugged enough to withstand rocket landings. Here’s live video captured on a SpaceX droneship at sea with and without Starlink pic.twitter.com/EKhLrjLhlq
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 7, 2022
Starlink Maritime can be ordered now and its available in around two weeks, according to the company.
