Image credit: u/Asleep_Operation2790
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite dishes have been spotted installed on a Norwegian Cruise Line cruise ship, according to one Redditor.
Images shared on Monday by u/Asleep_Operation2790 show the top sun deck of the Breakaway cruise ship with numerous Starlink Maritime dishes installed.
“On a Norwegian Breakaway cruise and spotted 11 Starlink dishes. 8 here on the top sundeck and 3 more behind me,” said the Redditor.
Image credit: u/Asleep_Operation2790
It appears SpaceX is testing Starlink with Norwegian Cruise Line. These dishes aren’t active for customers on the cruise ship yet.
“It’s not active yet that I can see as speeds are slow, IP address doesn’t show Starlink, and latency is still 600+ ms. But at least the dishes are installed which means a launch is imminent,” said u/Asleep_Operation2790.
Currently, daily satellite internet prices are in the range of $30-$35 aboard the cruise ship, and Starlink will hopefully lower that price and offer faster speeds and lower latency.
Image credit: u/Asleep_Operation2790
Starlink for Maritime customers has dual high-performance terminals, which SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said this summer “are important for maintaining the connection in choppy seas & heavy storms.”
No, it’s dual, high performance terminals, which are important for maintaining the connection in choppy seas & heavy storms.
Still obv premium pricing, but way cheaper & faster than alternatives.
SpaceX was paying $150k/month for a much worse connection to our ships!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 7, 2022
Musk added using Starlink for its autonomous drone ships for internet has lowered their costs, as SpaceX was previously paying $150,000 per month for legacy satellite internet connections that were far worse.
SpaceX has already inked Starlink deals with Royal Caribbean, while Hurtigruten Expeditions recently became the first cruise line to install Starlink across its entire fleet of ships.
Will Starlink be launching soon on Norwegian Cruise Lines? That’s unclear, but the pictures clearly show some sort of testing is underway.
