Elon Musk is taking a significant step in his mission to provide internet to remote areas. Starlink has signed a deal with United Airlines to offer satellite internet across its entire fleet. The airline will equip all its planes with antennas and routers to connect to Starlink satellites and provide Wi-Fi to passengers.
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According to CNBC, United Airlines will start testing Starlink satellite internet on select flights in 2025. Unlike most airlines, United will offer free Wi-Fi to its passengers. The company confirmed plans to integrate the service on over 1,000 aircraft, with a gradual rollout over the next few years.
“When we overlaid our global route network—across the Pacific, the Atlantic, and everywhere in between—Starlink had superior coverage compared to what we have today,” said Linda Jojo, Chief Customer Officer for United Airlines. “At that point, we realized we needed to figure out how to implement this on all our aircraft.”
While Starlink is already available on Hawaiian Airlines, today’s deal marks a significant advancement for Elon Musk and his company. United Airlines will become the largest airline to adopt SpaceX’s satellite internet. Starlink also has contracts with Qatar Airways and JSX, a semi-private airline.
Starlink aims to resolve one of the biggest issues with airplane internet.
Deploying Starlink on United planes is part of a strategy to attract more customers. The service promises better connectivity than current providers and will be offered to passengers for free.
According to Jojo, Starlink can handle internet demand on a full flight. “We know we can support multiple devices per passenger, and it will work as smoothly as it does in your living room,” he added. United did not specify connection speeds, but SpaceX’s satellite internet is expected to surpass current in-flight speeds.
In a test conducted by the WSJ, Starlink’s download speed on a flight exceeded 120 Mbps with minimal latency. This speed is sufficient for watching Netflix movies, listening to Spotify, or browsing YouTube without issues. Users will also be able to make video calls with minimal delay.
While United is confident that Starlink will end slow in-flight internet, the true test will be its performance on commercial flights. Speed may vary depending on the number of users and the plane’s location, as satellite connectivity might experience glitches in areas with heavy air traffic.
There are currently over 6,000 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit, serving more than 100 countries. Before SpaceX’s internet can be used on United planes, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration must certify the antennas on each of the airline’s aircraft.