Spacex’s Starlink Secures More Spectrum And Airlines As It Passes 8 Million Customers

SpaceX is buying different $2.6 cardinal worthy of wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar, an expansion of a $17 cardinal woody announced successful September, arsenic its outer net business Starlink continues to triumph caller customers astir nan world.

The spectrum waste comes conscionable a time aft SpaceX revealed it has passed 8 cardinal world customers. On Thursday, nan institution added much commercialized contracts to that total. International Airlines Group announced it will instal Starlink inflight net connected much than 500 craft crossed its portfolio, which includes British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus.

The further EchoStar spectrum will beryllium utilized to turn Starlink’s nascent “direct to cell” constellation, which initially lets T-Mobile customers entree satellite-based 5G internet.

The woody pinch International Airlines Group will spot Starlink added to planes opening successful 2026. The European group will make Starlink disposable connected short-haul, long-haul, and world routes — fundamentally each level not slated for retirement, according to a property release.

Starlink has been creeping crossed nan aviation manufacture nan past fewer years. It started pinch smaller jets and backstage planes in 2022, but has quickly racked up large commercialized partnerships, pinch Hawaiian airlines being nan first. United Airlines announced a woody to merge Starlink net successful precocious 2024 and past accelerated nan rollout earlier this year. Qatar Airways outfitted dozens of its wide-body planes pinch Starlink this year, too.

All of this has helped SpaceX notch much than 8 cardinal customers for Starlink crossed 150 different countries. That’s up from 6 cardinal successful June.