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“Kickass” Starlink Internet to Become Available on Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships

At the time of writing, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is getting ready to launch another batch of Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit. Set to depart from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, a Falcon 9 rocket (whose first stage was used five times before) will carry into orbit another 46 Starlink satellites to aid Musk’s space-Internet expansion plans.
Royal Caribbean cruise ships to use Starlink Internet 6 photos
Photo: Royal Caribbean Group
SpaceX launches Starlink Maritime for boatsSpaceX launches Starlink Maritime for boatsSpaceX launches Starlink Maritime for boatsSpaceX launches Starlink Maritime for boatsSpaceX launches Starlink Maritime for boats
As another taste of the growing importance of this project for people and businesses that otherwise would have had to go to great lengths to get Internet access, one of the biggest cruise companies in the world announced the adoption of Starlink this week.

It’s the Royal Caribbean Group (RCG) we’re talking about, the operator of no less than 60 cruise ships to some 800 destinations around the world. The Florida-based entity said on August 30 it plans to implement Starlink on some of its ships, making it the first in this industry to do so.

The first big boats to get SpaceX internet access are the ones in the Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea fleets. The exact time of the rollout has not been announced, but the company promises it’ll be soon.

As you might have imagined, Elon Musk quickly and publicly reacted to the announcement, posting a Twitter a short, but effective message: “Kickass Internet connection coming Royal Caribbean ships soon!”

The announcement is the latest in a series of high-profile moves concerning Starlink, and made in recent months. Most recently, and directly related to this week’s development, Starlink Maritime was launched, promising 350 Mbps download speeds for anyone using the system at sea.

The system was designed for use on anything from merchant ships to oil rigs and yachts, but as usual in this industry, cruise ships seem to be the first ones to jump on board.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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