SpaceX starts testing Starlink internet service on flights

SpaceX compartió imágenes de los 60 satélites Starlink antes de que se implementaran en órbita (SpaceX)

SpaceX’s Starlink will begin testing its internet service on aircraft with the aim to offer connectivity to commercial airlines soon.

Starlink is in talks with several companies to offer in-flight broadband, according to Jonathan Hofeller, vice president of commercial sales, as reported by Bloomberg.

Up to six satellites per week are being assembled at the company’s site, and SpaceX is apparently moving to a more sophisticated version of the craft. It is unclear how advanced the talks are at this stage, or what the details of the testing are.

SpaceX has launched thousands of satellites in its attempt to build a constellation of more than 30,000. Last week it launched 53 new satellites from Florida.

It is possible that Starlink will eventually become a stronger, more secure alternative to GPS, although is currently not as accurate as the current system.

GPS uses well-known signals that could make it vulnerable to spoofing or jamming attacks but does so at the benefit to manufacturers that can easily make various equipment to interacts with these signals.

Unfortunately, the massive number of crafts in space are responsible for over half of all near-collisions in space, according to the head of the Astronautics Research Group - approximately 1,600 close encounters every week.

SpaceX is also reportedly in a financial “crisis” with regards to production of its Starship rocket.

“The Raptor production crisis is much worse than it seemed a few weeks ago … There is no way to sugarcoat this.” Musk wrote.

“We face genuine risk of bankruptcy if we cannot achieve a Starship flight rate of at least once every two weeks next year,” he added, in a memo seen by CNBC and originally reported by Space Explored. He also called the situation a “disaster”.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent before time of publication.