Starlink : Markets and Marketing

[Ludus]

They may need a distinct offering just for cruise ships. Up to a couple thousand users who would likely pay extra for it. It’s not the same as a yacht, oil platform or container ship.

[M.E.T.]

While idly googling the potential size of the maritime market worldwide (which as per the thread above seems to potentially be in the 100k-1M range), I was mildly surprised to learn that this is significantly greater than the total number of airliners in the world (something like 35k only).

So for all the excitement about the airline market for Starlink, it would seem that the maritime market is actually a bigger deal. Unless they can charge a lot more per month for the airline service.

No doubt some of you will have a much deeper understanding of the economics of that market.

[JayWee]

They may need a distinct offering just for cruise ships. Up to a couple thousand users who would likely pay extra for it. It’s not the same as a yacht, oil platform or container ship.

12 dishes installed on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.

[su27k]

Georgia approves Starlink services in Eastern Europe

Georgia became the latest country July 14 to approve SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation.

Starlink applied for permission to provide services in Georgia July 8 after meeting regulatory officials at the end of June, the Georgian National Communications Commission (ComCom) said.

“Starlink is especially important and interesting in mountainous regions as well as in settlements without broadband internet coverage,” ComCom said in a translated statement.

“After the introduction of Starlink, access to high-speed Internet in all such geographical areas will be available to anyone.”

[Lars-J]

Georgia approves Starlink services in Eastern Europe

Georgia became the latest country July 14 to approve SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation.

Starlink applied for permission to provide services in Georgia July 8 after meeting regulatory officials at the end of June, the Georgian National Communications Commission (ComCom) said.

“Starlink is especially important and interesting in mountainous regions as well as in settlements without broadband internet coverage,” ComCom said in a translated statement.

“After the introduction of Starlink, access to high-speed Internet in all such geographical areas will be available to anyone.”

The article mentions that talks about a Starlink ground station ran into delays. But without a ground station in the area, Starlink service will be limited.(?)

But perhaps SpaceX is hoping to place a ground station in eastern Turkey instead, being a safer area. Otherwise a Georgia ground station would be target #1 for Russia the next time they want to raise problems in Georgia. But perhaps by then the inter-satellite laser links will make the issue moot…

[Clavin]

https://teslanorth.com/2022/07/18/spacex-signs-first-starlink-deal-with-an-aircraft-maker-de-havilland-canada/

SpaceX has signed another customer for its Starlink satellite internet and in-flight Wi-Fi, this time with aircraft manufacturer De Havilland Canada, based out of Toronto, Ontario.According to De Havilland Canada, it will be refreshing its Dash 8-400 aircraft with new features to “enhance passenger appeal with more functionality and flexibility”, said the company on Tuesday.
One of these new upgrades includes built-in Starlink internet for in-flight Wi-Fi, which offers much faster speeds than any existing product offering for aircraft, whether it be satellite or air-to-ground systems.
“The Starlink antenna’s lightweight and aerodynamic form factor enable a more sustainable operation with fuel savings not capable with other legacy systems,” explained De Havilland Canada, which noted it will work with Starlink to integrate the service on its aircraft.“
As we work toward relaunching the production of the Dash 8-400 aircraft, our design weight increases and cabin enhancements, which are available to retrofit in-service aircraft, illustrate De Havilland Canada’s ongoing commitment and investments to support the worldwide fleet,” said Jean-Philippe Côté, Vice President, Programs, De Havilland Canada, in a statement.
“Our solutions offer our operators many opportunities to increase operational flexibility and to provide a passenger experience that is equivalent to that on new production aircraft. In addition, our design weight increases for the Dash 8-400 aircraft will allow operators to meet the increasing passenger weight allowance requirements mandated by Transport Canada, the FAA and various other aviation authorities, without any impact on revenue..
”According to De Havilland Canada, this is the first deal between Starlink and any OEM of airplanes. The Toronto company says this decision to partner with SpaceX for Starlink highlights its “customer focus and agility as an organization.
”De Havilland says the Starlink kit includes the antenna dish, power supply unit, Wi-Fi wireless access point and applicable wiring.
SpaceX has inked other Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi deals with Hawaiian Airlines and JSX, but this is the first time the company is working with an aircraft maker.
On Sunday, SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit; the launch matched the total number of SpaceX launches from 2021 and so far we’re only into July.

[Zed_Noir]

.....
SpaceX has signed another customer for its Starlink satellite internet and in-flight Wi-Fi, this time with aircraft manufacturer De Havilland Canada, based out of Toronto, Ontario.According to De Havilland Canada, it will be refreshing its Dash 8-400 aircraft with new features to “enhance passenger appeal with more functionality and flexibility”, said the company on Tuesday.
One of these new upgrades includes built-in Starlink internet for in-flight Wi-Fi, which offers much faster speeds than any existing product offering for aircraft, whether it be satellite or air-to-ground systems.
.....

Wonder if Starlink terminals will be retro-fitted to the earlier De Havilland Canada aircraft like the DHC-6 Twin Otter? Which if so equipped can operated in the Antarctic interior while connected to the Stralink network, once the Starlink shell 3 is operational.

[DanClemmensen]

.....
SpaceX has signed another customer for its Starlink satellite internet and in-flight Wi-Fi, this time with aircraft manufacturer De Havilland Canada, based out of Toronto, Ontario.According to De Havilland Canada, it will be refreshing its Dash 8-400 aircraft with new features to “enhance passenger appeal with more functionality and flexibility”, said the company on Tuesday.
One of these new upgrades includes built-in Starlink internet for in-flight Wi-Fi, which offers much faster speeds than any existing product offering for aircraft, whether it be satellite or air-to-ground systems.
.....

Wonder if Starlink terminals will be retro-fitted to the earlier De Havilland Canada aircraft like the DHC-6 Twin Otter? Which if so equipped can operated in the Antarctic interior while connected to the Stralink network, once the Starlink shell 3 is operational.

Does Shell 3 have ISL? if not, then you would need one or more teleports in Antarctica, and there is basically no business case for that. Wait for Shell 3 to be equipped with Starlink V2.2.

[Zed_Noir]

.....
SpaceX has signed another customer for its Starlink satellite internet and in-flight Wi-Fi, this time with aircraft manufacturer De Havilland Canada, based out of Toronto, Ontario.According to De Havilland Canada, it will be refreshing its Dash 8-400 aircraft with new features to “enhance passenger appeal with more functionality and flexibility”, said the company on Tuesday.
One of these new upgrades includes built-in Starlink internet for in-flight Wi-Fi, which offers much faster speeds than any existing product offering for aircraft, whether it be satellite or air-to-ground systems.
.....

Wonder if Starlink terminals will be retro-fitted to the earlier De Havilland Canada aircraft like the DHC-6 Twin Otter? Which if so equipped can operated in the Antarctic interior while connected to the Stralink network, once the Starlink shell 3 is operational.

Does Shell 3 have ISL? if not, then you would need one or more teleports in Antarctica, and there is basically no business case for that. Wait for Shell 3 to be equipped with Starlink V2.2.

AFAIK the only Starlink comsats being launched by SpaceX so far in 2022 are version v1.5 with ISL. Which is require for operations at the higher latitudes AIUI.

[Nomadd]

AFAIK the only Starlink comsats being launched by SpaceX so far in 2022 are version v1.5 with ISL. Which is require for operations at the higher latitudes AIUI.

Not higher latitude as much as remoteness. You need ISL where you aren't in range of a gateway.

[oldAtlas_Eguy]

AFAIK the only Starlink comsats being launched by SpaceX so far in 2022 are version v1.5 with ISL. Which is require for operations at the higher latitudes AIUI.

Not higher latitude as much as remoteness. You need ISL where you aren't in range of a gateway.

Only V1.5 ISL sats have been launched since September 2021. An ~1200 sats since then with about 500 that have yet to reach their operational orbit positions. Each month an additional 100 to 150 V1.5 ISL sats go operational.

Currently there is not enough yet of the ISL's operational to give true full Earth coverage. But also more Gateways are are also needed to keep up with the total subscribers continuous increases. ISL just makes the location of where the gateways are less important.

[su27k]

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1550555439779049473

Starlink is available for service in 36 countries (or 41 markets) around the world, now including Luxembourg, Saint Martin, and St. Barthelemy → http://starlink.com/map

[wannamoonbase]

AFAIK the only Starlink comsats being launched by SpaceX so far in 2022 are version v1.5 with ISL. Which is require for operations at the higher latitudes AIUI.

Not higher latitude as much as remoteness. You need ISL where you aren't in range of a gateway.

Only V1.5 ISL sats have been launched since September 2021. An ~1200 sats since then with about 500 that have yet to reach their operational orbit positions. Each month an additional 100 to 150 V1.5 ISL sats go operational.

Currently there is not enough yet of the ISL's operational to give true full Earth coverage. But also more Gateways are are also needed to keep up with the total subscribers continuous increases. ISL just makes the location of where the gateways are less important.

It will be very interested by the end of this year with Shell 3 and 4 nearing operational completion and the ISL's become effective.

I'd love to know the current costs of producing each user terminal and how many they are making per week and what the eventual goal is for weekly production.

I think 100 million total global users is not unreasonable.  It will take a lot of work to get to that level of production, I think they need to get to 300,000 to  400,000 user terminals per week.

[su27k]

https://twitter.com/FedorovMykhailo/status/1552315825389985795

Unpacking in times of war: not a brand new Starlink device, but rather ‘heavily injured’ one. Right from the hottest cities in Luhansk region, this @SpaceX terminal worked under shelling and contributed to the Ukrainian victory. Thanks for the service, Starlink!

[su27k]

https://twitter.com/anuvu_official/status/1552232455599525888

@SpaceX is coming to maritime and we’re ready to integrate and manage the Starlink service on superyachts more efficiently through our latest version of Maestro. Learn more http://ow.ly/Gpe650K4XCQ

[su27k]

Space Force considers asking satellite firms to host payloads for tactical ISR

He noted that during SSC’s reverse industry days in May on tactical ISR, officials spoke with a number of commercial firms, including Amazon, SpaceX and Terran Orbital, that are planning to launch “large constellations on the order of thousands” of satellites and might be willing to allow the Space Force to, in essence, hitch a ride for its own sensor payloads.

“Maybe there’s an in-between between building it ourselves and then taking care of the whole constellation and [commercial] providing [data] as a service,” Birchenough told the America’s Future Space Innovation Summit. “Maybe there’s a hosted payload piece in between, because many of those satellites that they’re putting up have a lot of extra space available, a lot of size or electricity and power available.”

Another idea, Birchenough said, is for SSC to serve as a kind of “matchmaker” to pair ISR sensor developers with commercial operators with capacity to carry payloads extraneous to their own capabilities.

[su27k]

Multiple Air Force Units Buy SpaceX’s Starlink Satellite Internet Services
https://www.airforcemag.com/multiple-air-force-units-buy-spacexs-starlink-satellite-internet-services/

A pair of Air Force units across two major commands have announced plans to purchase services from SpaceX’s Starlink constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit. The contracts come not long after service leaders praised the effectiveness of the satellite internet service in aiding Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

[su27k]

According to reddit, Starlink started a referral program in France, 2 free months for each referral.

[M.E.T.]

According to reddit, Starlink started a referral program in France, 2 free months for each referral.

Worth pointing out that international customers are more valuable than additional US customers at this point. US cells are close to saturated as evidenced by declining internet speeds, while the same satellites are essentially covering “dead air” when orbiting over under utilised international geographies.

So Starlink has every incentive to expand overseas subscriber numbers to maximise the revenue generation capacity of the existing constellation.

[Mandella]

According to reddit, Starlink started a referral program in France, 2 free months for each referral.

Worth pointing out that international customers are more valuable than additional US customers at this point. US cells are close to saturated as evidenced by declining internet speeds, while the same satellites are essentially covering “dead air” when orbiting over under utilised international geographies.

So Starlink has every incentive to expand overseas subscriber numbers to maximise the revenue generation capacity of the existing constellation.

Ahem. *Some* US cells are saturated, other rather large geographical areas have barely been touched.

I do agree though that gaining international customers is vital. I don't really question their rollout plan, even if it is inconvenient to me and my neighbors, but they still have a ways to go before saturating the continental United States.