The US Federal Communications Commission approved SpaceX’s plan to expand its broadband capabilities to commercial aeroplanes, cargo vessels, and trucks on Thursday by allowing the firm to utilise its Starlink satellite internet network with moving vehicles.
On Gulfstream jets and US military aircraft, SpaceX has been testing Starlink terminals designed specifically for aviation under an earlier experimental FCC licence.
According to Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, the types of vehicles Starlink was anticipated to be utilised with in accordance with Thursday’s authorization were aircraft, ships, big trucks, and recreational vehicles (RVs). According to Musk, who is also the CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc., “connecting Tesla automobiles to Starlink is not an option since our terminal is much too massive.”
SpaceX, satellite operator OneWeb, and Jeff Bezos’s Kuiper project, a division of e-commerce behemoth Amazon.com, are in strong competition in the low-Earth orbiting satellite internet market. Amazon.com plans to launch the first prototype satellites of its own broadband network later this year.
