FCC clears SpaceX to connect Starlink to boats, planes, other moving vehicles
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband service could soon be on the move.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has given SpaceX the green light for its Starlink satellite broadband platform to connect to boats, planes, trucks, RVs and other types of moving vehicles, effectively forging a new service path for Starlink.
Today the service uses a network of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to deliver fixed satellite data services to residential and business customers. Starlink has more than 400,000 customers worldwide, primarily in the residential category.
“Authorizing a new class of terminals for SpaceX’s satellite system will expand the range of broadband capabilities to meet the growing user demands that now require connectivity while on the move, whether driving an RV across the country, moving a freighter from Europe to a US port, or while on a domestic or international flight,” the FCC’s international bureau chief, Tom Sullivan, wrote in the order (PDF).
Last week’s approval order follows SpaceX’s application earlier this year for blanket-licensed Earth Stations in Motion, or ESIMs.
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