| Advertisement |
July 9 (UPI) -- Elon Musk's SpaceX has announced its new Starlink Maritime service to provide satellite internet to yachts and oil rigs for $5,000 per month. Starlink Maritime on its website advertises low-latency connection with download speeds of up to 350 megabytes-per-second while at sea, boasting that users can "connect from the most remote waters in the world."
Advertisement
The company said that the Starlink Maritime hardware costs $10,000 for two high-performance terminals but "demands minimal above-deck space." SpaceX added that the service can be paused at any time.
"It's dual, high-performance terminals which are important for maintaining the connection in choppy seas and heavy storms," Musk, the company's CEO, said in a tweet Thursday while responding to criticism that the service is priced much higher than residential Starlink internet.
"Still obviously premium pricing, but way cheaper and faster than alternatives."
Musk alleged that SpaceX was paying $150,000 month "for a much worse connection" to its ships and added that "being ruggedized for relentless salt spray and extreme winds and storms in deep ocean is not easy" while justifying the prices.
Starlink's residential and RV hardware costs $599 with monthly service costs of $110 for homes and $135 for RVs.
Legal documents provided by Starlink show that maritime users can expect worse latency, or the amount of time it takes for data to travel between the sender and receiver, than other users.
"Stated speeds and uninterrupted use of Services are not guaranteed," the fine print reads.
"Actual speeds will likely be lower than the maximum speeds during times of high usage. Starlink may temporarily reduce speeds if our network is congested."
