SpaceX Starlink has 2,500 planes under contract after United megadeal, director says

PARIS – SpaceX has nearly doubled its backlog of Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi orders since last week United Airlines deal, a company director said Tuesday.

“Very excited that we now have nearly 2,500 aircraft under contract, in what was effectively a startup that we think is a growing experience that is going to resonate with all passengers and airlines worldwide,” said Nick Gallano, Starlink Aviation's SpaceX director of sales and partnerships. said during a panel at the World Space Business Week conference in Paris.

The satellite Internet arm of Elon Musk's space company is pushing In-Flight Connectivity, or IFC, into the market. Last week, United said it would build more than 1,000 of its planes with Starlink and not charge customers for Wi-Fi.

The United megadeal was Starlink's largest IFC deal. It will also bump United's quartet of existing Wi-Fi providers — ViasatPanasonic, Thales, and gogo — as Starlink will be installed on airline planes over the next few years

SpaceX previously announced the in-flight deal and began service with it Hawaiian AirlinesQatar Airways, Japan's Zephyr, Latvia's AirBaltic and semi-private charter airline JSX.

SpaceX has steadily expanded its Starlink network and product offerings since its debut in 2020. The company initially targeted consumers, but has expanded into other markets, including enterprise services such as aviation and maritime.

There are currently about 6,400 Starlink satellites in orbit connecting more than 3 million customers in 100 countries, according to the company.

Gallano said the current satellite constellation is “probably 100 times more than what all legacy systems have provided” because of “300 terabits per second worth of capacity today” through Starlink, citing the “absolute factor of capacity we can deliver”.

SpaceX continues to increase that capacity, too, launching rockets carrying new Starlink satellites on average every three days this year, according to the company.

Galano also emphasized that SpaceX is trying to reduce the time it takes to install new antennas on planes. Known as retrofitting, this process is a pain point for airlines that have to take aircraft out of active service from time to time to upgrade or replace a satellite communications system.

“We're trying to simplify those installations — innovation is a word we use — to get them done in a day, which we've proven in the Hawaiian and JSX fleets,” Galano said.

By comparison, Delta Air Lines According to Glenn Latta, the airline's managing director of in-flight entertainment and connectivity, it takes “on average about three days” to retrofit its satellite IFC. But Latta said Delta's process, which requires the retrofit of 1,200 planes, is more intensive than Starlink's installation in Hawaii's fleet, which stands at 66 planes by mid-2024, according to a securities filing.

“A retrofit for us is removing the system that's there … and then you can install yours,” Latta told CNBC after the conference panel. “[Hawaiian] There's never been a satcom system, so that's one of the differences to take into account.”

Delta, which relies on Viasat for in-flight service, said it would make its WiFi free to members as early as 2023 — a decision Latta said has proven to be a good fit for the airline. Both Delta and United are fighting for high-end customers.

“We got 3 million additional SkyMiles members as part of our loyalty program by offering free Internet access,” Latta said.

— CNBC's Leslie Josephs contributed to this article.