Landing sites for SpaceX rockets will be turned into Starlink marine Internet stations
SpaceX has applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to test unmanned barges at sea as maritime Internet stations. It is planned to install 12 conventional ground-based Starlink systems on the barge to test the system’s operation in marine conditions. It is not specified how these complexes will be connected to the terrestrial network. Perhaps all of this has other purposes, and not necessarily civilian ones.
Starlink satellite Internet is designed in such a way that its users (terminals) connect to the Internet through a network of Starlink ground stations connected to the global network via optical lines. Starlink satellites in orbit act as repeaters that transmit data from user terminals to Starlink ground stations. If the terminal and the ground station are out of range of one satellite, the laser beam is relayed in space from one satellite to another until the terminal and the ground station are connected by a data stream.
Starlink’s maritime coverage is based on this principle. Since July 2022, the company has been providing the Starlink Maritime service package worth $5 thousand per month. If SpaceX’s unmanned barges, which were created to pick up the company’s reentry rocket stairs in the ocean, are turned into “gateways” for the satellite network, then Starlink’s service at sea may become cheaper. So far, nothing is known about the project. The permit for testing the ground-based complex at sea has not yet been issued.
Given the rising tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, it cannot be ruled out that sea stations can be seen as a way to provide Internet connectivity to ship groups.
