Starlink - Does it work in airplanes?

mandm

mandm

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Anyone know if Starlink basic package would work while flying just having the satellite receiver inside the aircraft or at multiple destinations?

The price has reduced to $120/month so have been thinking about it a little more.

I’ve had the T-mobile / Verizon mobile internets and those do work at multiple locations and while traveling in the RV. Have not tried it while flying in the airplane haha but if no cell phone then I’m pretty sure it also wouldn’t work.
 
mandm said:
Anyone know if Starlink basic package would work while flying just having the satellite receiver inside the aircraft or at multiple destinations?

The price has reduced to $120/month so have been thinking about it a little more.

I’ve had the T-mobile / Verizon mobile internets and those do work at multiple locations and while traveling in the RV. Have not tried it while flying in the airplane haha but if no cell phone then I’m pretty sure it also wouldn’t work.
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The $120/month is for residential (i.e. one location). The RV version is $150/month and is limited to 10mph. It looks like you'd have to use the boat plan at $250/month. Then there's the issue of where and how to mount the antenna...
 
So the satellites actually have a restriction built in then?
 
mandm said:
So the satellites actually have a restriction built in then?
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I think the service can detect the location of the ground antenna. I'm not sure if it will deny you real time or cancel your service if you violate the TOS. I recall offshore sailors getting notifications when they used the service beyond the coastal service area.
 
MountainDude said:
It looks like you can
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Yes, but only up to 100mph according to the video.

Edit: just read in the comments he is using the mobile version (presumably the ROAM RV version) at $150/month. Better than 10mph, although many in the comments said it starts blocking you at 85mph, and each time you exceed the speed it lengthens the duration of the block, until you eventually have to reboot it. Sounds like you'd need to try this using at least the $250/month plan. Apparently there is an aviation plan but it is $2,000/month!!!!
 
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Racerx said:
I fly to escape from being plugged in. If my passengers can't cope, flying with me isnt for them
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That’s cool, but when plans change, weather changes, etc., it’s nice to have access to the wealth of data available to groundpounders below. Sometimes just being able to get a text message out is all that’s necessary to make things seamless. Many of us use our airplanes to go places, and being connected allows us to have food, rides, fuel, etc., available quickly when we land.
 
I am hoping that they will come up with a system for GA, with small antenna.

I would be happy with 2G data speeds. I want some coms, not to stream movies.
 
Saw a blurb somewhere yesterday that Hawaiian Airlines is putting it in their planes
 
I wouldn’t think the standard dish would work inside an aluminum aircraft body nor do I think mounting one externally would be a good idea.

They have the roam version too, I don’t know much about how that one works. Maybe you could figure something out but I don’t think this is the intended application.

To me it’s way more trouble and expense than I think it would be worth. Just fly low and wait for a cell signal.
 
gacoon said:
Saw a blurb somewhere yesterday that Hawaiian Airlines is putting it in their planes
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It was in the plane I was in last month - and free for everyone.
 
Can't use it in your plane, unless you have a very slow plane. But I live out of a tent about a month a year and that's only possible because starlink allows me to telecommute from anywhere. It's been game changing for me.

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Pinecone said:
I am hoping that they will come up with a system for GA, with small antenna.

I would be happy with 2G data speeds. I want some coms, not to stream movies.
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Check out the Garmin InReach. I have the InReach mini (got it for hunting safety) and have used it in the plane. You can send/receive text messages, emails, or device-to-device messages and get basic weather updates either onto the device itself (very limited UI) or pair it with your phone to a dedicated app.
 
cowman said:
I wouldn’t think the standard dish would work inside an aluminum aircraft body nor do I think mounting one externally would be a good idea.

They have the roam version too, I don’t know much about how that one works. Maybe you could figure something out but I don’t think this is the intended application.

To me it’s way more trouble and expense than I think it would be worth. Just fly low and wait for a cell signal.
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True but sometimes your destination has no coverage, so having North America coverage would be a nice add on, can call customs when needed, obtain updated weather, pax can do social media and stream videos, etc.
 
CJones said:
Check out the Garmin InReach. I have the InReach mini (got it for hunting safety) and have used it in the plane. You can send/receive text messages, emails, or device-to-device messages and get basic weather updates either onto the device itself (very limited UI) or pair it with your phone to a dedicated app.
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Would it update foreflight weather briefings? I especially like info on cloud layers and winds.
 
mandm said:
Would it update foreflight weather briefings? I especially like info on cloud layers and winds.
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No. It's not an open data connection, it's just messaging and weather information handled through Garmin's (I'm sure they're spinning it off to a 3rd party satellite provider) infrastructure. You can't use your typical text messaging app - you send/receive messages through the Garmin app. It also does breadcrumbs of your location onto a shareable map on Garmin's site.
 
StraightnLevel said:
How does it differ materially from the Intelsat and Viasat that DElta and others have been using for many years?
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Not sure exactly but on my flight last month it was super fast, and free. On previous flights on other carriers I had to pay for the service, but that was a while ago.
 
Starlink as a service does work in airplanes, and as @Brad Z noted above there's an aviation subscription. But note, that's for the 20GB plan. Unlimited is $10k/month, and that's on top of the STC you have to purchase and install you have to do. See their website:

www.starlink.com

Starlink Business | Aviation

Available now on your airframe.
www.starlink.com www.starlink.com

Your standard bug smasher isn't the target market for this (if that wasn't obvious). You're looking at super mid and large cabin bizjets for the most part, the kinds of things where you're already spending $10k/hour to operate the things and are usually being chartered anyway. Those planes virtually all have some sort of internet on them today, and the subscriptions on those aren't cheap, either (although Starlink is currently more, but for a higher quality product).

The antenna is large enough that mounting it on a 172 or the like may be a bit harder (that's a significant part of the STC). However like most technology, it wouldn't surprise me if it eventually trickles down. People already pay a decent chunk for SXM in their planes (more than I was ever willing to pay). If you're willing to pay a subscription price for a SXM weather + audio plan, a $200/month subscription (extrapolating from home and RV plans) wouldn't be out of the question.

But as to today, seems unlikely it would really work. A combination of SXM (for weather and audio - the audio at least you can use with any portable SXM receiver, and I used to do that in my Aztec) and a Garmin InReach probably get you a good chunk of what you're looking for. I have an InReach that I use while riding. Mostly I like it because it's paired with my Zumo XT2 and I can send preset check-in messages to my wife while riding easily. "I'm starting my trip" "I'm checking in, everything is ok" "I'm ending my trip".

When I was flying, I specifically never bought, nor wanted, any kind of 2-way communications. I borrowed a friend's when doing a few international/over water trips for a combination of an added measure of safety, and also because I was doing rescue flights with people who weren't as savvy on FlightAware (which incidentally is less accurate in those areas anyway). It was useful in those cases. However for my standard flying, frankly I didn't want the people who would be trying to contact me to be able to contact me.

It's worth noting that with InReach you have to send or otherwise allow people to contact you on it (I forget the exact mechanisms) so you can't just get random scam text messages. But that's still easier to control nowadays than it was during the Cloud Nine days. People have finally realized I'm not worth talking to.
 
All of the above is correct and I know a thing or two about this space (lol).

I was chatting with a colleague and the GA market is tough as there is a minimum antenna size you need to talk to the satellites (currently). Going smaller degrades your connection which degrades the capacity of the satellite. And you still have the myriad of GA models that STCing an outside equipment antenna array is no small feat.

As an example, the company I worked for had many 100s of successful installs of a specific system across multiple airframes already flying but then the next one, which happened to be dictated by the airframer, ended up too close to the ELT antenna and the eddy current caused them to vibrate off. Oops.
 
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For now even with the "mobile plans" they kill the service above 100mph. So, it wont work unless you're in a really slow airplane. Hopefully this will change in the future. I've reached out to them asking for GA support with limited response. Essentially, they say they're not interested in GA.
 
I think it's a phased array set-up (I'm assuming, not certain) since it has to transmit up to satellites not in geo sync orbits? Further assuming the sats have to know where you are, as well, to punch data down to you? So it wouldn't take much to detect your antenna was on the move.
 
Sundancer said:
I think it's a phased array set-up (I'm assuming, not certain) since it has to transmit up to satellites not in geo sync orbits? Further assuming the sats have to know where you are, as well, to punch data down to you? So it wouldn't take much to detect your antenna was on the move.
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Electronically steered array
 
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