United Adds Free In-Flight Satellite WiFi To 1,000 Aircraft

Starlink announced it has signed a deal with United Airlines to install the satellite internet service terminals in 1,000 main line and regional airliners. This brings Starlink’s total to 2,500 aircraft under contract that will be fulfilled over the next several years. The service will provide passengers with in-flight internet connectivity (IFC) free of charge, the company said.

The United deal was Starlink’s largest agreement to date for IFC and signifies its intention to continue expanding its market share. This deal also replaces Viasat, Panadonic, Thales, and Gogo, United’s existing WiFi providers. Starlink announced previous deals and service has started with Hawaiian Airlines, Qatar Airways, Japan’s Zipair, airBaltic, and semi-private charter operator JSX.

Nick Galano, SpaceX director of Starlink aviation sales and partnerships, said at the World Space Business Week in Paris, “Very excited that we have about 2,500 aircraft under contract now, bringing what was effectively a startup to now what we think is a growing experience that’s going to resonate with all the passengers and the airlines worldwide.”

Starlink says it now has about 6,400 satellites in orbit connecting over 3 million customers in 100 countries globally. Galano said that the sheer amount of capacity Starlink provides is likely to be more than 100 times what all the other legacy systems have provided and is “over 300 terabits per second worth of capacity today.”

And SpaceX continues to push that up with Starlink launches averaging about two per week.

FMI:  www.starlink.com/