SpaceX’s Starlink web service continues to make inroads across the globe.
Starlink offered Wi-Fi on a Boeing 777 jet for the primary time right this moment (Oct. 22), throughout a Qatar Airways flight from the Qatari capital of Doha to London.
The 777 is the “largest and longest-range passenger plane outfitted with Starlink thus far,” SpaceX representatives mentioned in an emailed assertion right this moment.
#QatarAirways launches the world’s first Boeing 777 Starlink-equipped flight. @StarlinkWe are proud to be the airline that leads the way in which, setting new requirements within the airline business. ✈️#QatarAirwaysStarlink pic.twitter.com/347ZnclANbOctober 22, 2024
Qatar Airways marked the milestone with a press release that was despatched right down to Earth through the flight utilizing Starlink. In accordance the discharge, the airline will equip its complete 777 fleet with Starlink service — which will probably be free for passengers — in 2025.
Associated: Starlink satellites: Details, monitoring and affect on astronomy
Qatar Airways additionally posted on YouTube a video call that its CEO, Badr Mohammed Al Meer, held with SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk through the flight, once more utilizing Starlink service.
The Doha-based provider is not the one airline that has signed a Starlink service contract: SpaceX has additionally inked deals with United Airways, Hawaiian Airways and airBaltic, amongst others.
SpaceX presently operates more than 6,400 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. That is a powerful quantity to make certain, nevertheless it’s certain to continue to grow; the megaconstellation may finally swell to 40,000 or so.
“That is the minimal, and it solely will get higher from right here,” Musk mentioned throughout Monday’s video name with Al Meer.
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