Starlink’s Internet-from-Space service continues to expand to new use cases with the launch of Starlink Maritime. What started at home before expanding to stationary RVs is now available for boats on the go at a price of $5,000 per month. SpaceX is targeting merchant ships, oil rigs and wealthy superyacht owners with the service.
Starlink Maritime also requires a one-time purchase of two heavy-duty, $10,000 Starlink dishes that ship in about two weeks, according to the US order site. In comparison, the hardware for Starlink’s home and RV services costs $599 and includes a single (smaller) “Dishy McFlatface” (as the dish is known to fans) with monthly subscriptions of $110 for the home and Service or $135 for Vanlifers. Importantly, using the RV service while driving is not allowed and will void the warranty.
As with Starlink RV, a Starlink Maritime subscription can be paused during the months you don’t need it. It’s also offered with no data cap like all Starlink subscriptions, but SpaceX warns against “overusing network services.”
SpaceX released a head-to-head comparison of live video footage captured on a SpaceX drone ship. To the right is footage taken via Starlink Maritime versus an unnamed service that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk claims costs $150,000 a month for “a much worse connection.”
Maritime subscribers can expect mixed performance compared to Starlink Residential and RV services. Sea speeds of 100-350Mbps down and 20-40Mbps up are slightly faster than residential areas thanks to these dual terminals, but latency is <99ms worse than other 20-40ms. Even then, according to the fine print, these are just “performance targets.” When you pay SpaceX $5,000 a month for Maritime, you might expect a guaranteed level of service, but at least you don't have to deal with trees blocking the sky.
Starlink Maritime coverage. Screenshot: Starlink
Starlink Maritime coverage includes the coastal waters around the United States (including the Great Lakes), European waters from the Mediterranean to the North Sea, the waters around New Zealand and most of Australia, and parts of South America. It will continue to expand in the fourth quarter with the launch of more satellites. SpaceX currently has more than 2,400 Starlink satellites in low to medium Earth orbit supporting 400,000 users.
The Starlink Maritime launch comes a week after the FCC approved the use of Starlink for vehicles in motion. The Maritime service includes an FCC statement regarding possible interference when operating in the 12.2-12.7GHz band – the workhorse frequencies used by Starlink, which Dish Network plans to use to offer 5G services.
“The ongoing operations of Starlink, including for ships, must accept any interference received from both current and future in-band authorized services – even if such interference causes undesired operations for Starlink Services and its customers.”
That’s pretty ominous given the current disputes between SpaceX and Dish. SpaceX says Dish’s plans for 5G over 12GHz “would render Starlink unusable”. Dish says SpaceX is lying.