SpaceX's Starlink to provide WiFi services on planes; signs contract with JSX airline

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has officially entered the in-flight WiFi market as it has struck a deal with semi-private charter company JSX. In a Twitter post, the company announced that the inflight internet will be free for every passenger and the service will begin later this year. “JSX is proud to be the first air carrier to adopt @SpaceX Starlink internet inflight, free for every Customer onboard. We’d call it the best Wi-Fi in the sky, but it’s actually the greatest Wi-Fi in the galaxy - coming later this year”, the airline wrote in a tweet.

Regulatory approval awaited

In an interview with CNBC, JSX CEO Alex Wilcox said “We’ll be the first to have [Starlink] on an airplane”. He further revealed that JSX currently has a fleet of 77 30-seat Embraer jets but its deal with SpaceX will offer services on 100 airplanes. Currently, SpaceX requires a regulatory approval for offering internet services on JSX flights, which it would acquire by late 2022, Wilcox reckoned. Meanwhile, JSX will continue testing Starlink through an antenna fitted on one of its jet. 

The CEO, however, declined to provide financial details of JSX’s contract with SpaceX but confirmed that the service will be complementary and users will not require login screens for internet access. SpaceX’s new deal comes years after it first mentioned about entering the inflight internet market. 

In 2020, the company had requested the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a license to expand the testing of Starlink internet using aircrafts. “SpaceX seeks experimental authority for operation of one user terminal aboard each of up to five private jets while they are (1) on the ground at an airport, and (2) in flight over the United States (including its territories and territorial waters)”, the company’s FCC filing read, as per CNBC.

In the past, Musk had even said that Starlink would one day provide communication services to Mars. The wild revelation by Musk was made in response to a Twitter user who asked if Starlink will be deployed between Earth and Mars to strengthen communication for the Starship rocket.