After reports in 2020 held that SpaceX planned to test Starlink internet on Gulfstream jets, SpaceX Head Elon Musk says the company is testing them now, with support for commercial airplanes hopefully coming soon.
Musk said on Sunday that SpaceX is testing Starlink satellite internet on Gulfstream jets, adding that the company’s main goal was to target support for commercial airliners.
The news came in response to someone asking when other aircraft, to which Musk responded saying that it was up to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before adding “hopefully within 6 months.
In the tweet, Musk wrote, “We’re testing on Gulfstreams to debug issues, but deployment priority is commercial airliners.”
Depends mostly on FAA certification, but hopefully within 6 months.
We’re testing on Gulfstreams to debug issues, but deployment priority is commercial airliners.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 20, 2022
Earlier in the thread, one user asked if Musk was using Starlink right now, to which he responded, “Yes, in the air”.
Yes, in the air
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 20, 2022
Last year, a SpaceX executive also confirmed that the company was in talks with several airlines about offering in-flight Wi-Fi.
The company has also surpassed 250,000 Starlink terminals, according to Musk.
In addition to its regular terminals, SpaceX says it’s developing mesh internet technology, as spotted on the company’s frequently asked questions which was updated last month.
A batch of Starlink satellites was also lost to a geomagnetic storm at the beginning of February.
