Starlink High Speed To Be Installed Fleetwide by End of Q1 2023

[twangster]

3 hours ago, mo&fran said:

I cannot help but wonder if the wifi network onboard the ships can handle the increased demand.

 

The wifi network isn't the bottleneck today.  

 

Coverage sucks in some areas of the ship due to all the metal.  New ships are getting access points in each cabin to overcome that but the existing onboard wifi isn't what all or most of the problem today. 

 

Royal implementing a per user cap is the problem.  Swapping satellite providers may do nothing if they leave the existing bandwidth policies in place.  

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by twangster

[mike123abc]

Starlink as a world wide service  probably will not be ready until next spring.  The first group of satellites SpaceX launched requires site of an uplink on land.  The current groups they are launching relay the signal satellite to satellite then to land via lasers.  But, they are not through launching them yet.  At the rate they are going, they should be done launching by the end of the year and a couple of months for the satellites to get to the correct location.  By next spring they should have world wide coverage.  Probably why they say Q1 next year.

[VegasVic14]

2 hours ago, mike123abc said:

Starlink as a world wide service  probably will not be ready until next spring.  The first group of satellites SpaceX launched requires site of an uplink on land.  The current groups they are launching relay the signal satellite to satellite then to land via lasers.  But, they are not through launching them yet.  At the rate they are going, they should be done launching by the end of the year and a couple of months for the satellites to get to the correct location.  By next spring they should have world wide coverage.  Probably why they say Q1 next year.

46 more satellites went into orbit Tuesday night  (8/30).

[twangster]

2 hours ago, VegasVic14 said:

46 more satellites went into orbit Tuesday night  (8/30).

 

Yes but the are old v1.5 satellites.  The new Starlink v2 satellites can not be launched by Falcon 9 rockets.  They require Starship which has 4 times the payload capacity of Falcon 9.

[CruisingWalter]

17 hours ago, mike123abc said:

Starlink as a world wide service  probably will not be ready until next spring.  The first group of satellites SpaceX launched requires site of an uplink on land.  The current groups they are launching relay the signal satellite to satellite then to land via lasers.  But, they are not through launching them yet.  At the rate they are going, they should be done launching by the end of the year and a couple of months for the satellites to get to the correct location.  By next spring they should have world wide coverage.  Probably why they say Q1 next year.

 

According to the image provided by SpaceX/Starlink in this article, Starlink expects coverage across the world by Q1 2023. If you look at the key in the lower left of the global image, it says the dark areas will be covered by Q1 2023.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/starlink-will-transform-internet-on-cruises-but-not-everywhere/79849

[twangster]

7 minutes ago, WheresWalter said:

 

According to the image provided by SpaceX/Starlink in this article, Starlink expects coverage across the world by Q1 2023. If you look at the key in the lower left of the global image, it says the dark areas will be covered by Q1 2023.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/starlink-will-transform-internet-on-cruises-but-not-everywhere/79849

 

That's all predicated on Starship flying soon.  Starship can carry nearly 4 times the number of v1 Starlink satellites compared to a Falcon 9 rocket.  Instead of a measly ~50 per launch think ~200 per launch.  Starship can also go higher so it can launch satellites closer to their desired final altitude which means they enter service in a month or so compared to ~ 9 months after a Falcon 9 deployment. 

 

The new v2 Starlink satellites required for many advanced features that Musk posts about can't be launched by Falcon 9.  They require Starship.

 

Keep a close eye on Starship news.  If Starship incurs any more delays so will the timeline for Starlink internet progression.

[twangster]

Keep in mind that Starlink is new and not fully built out.  They are "building the airplane as it flies".

 

Many land based Starlink would be subscribers put a deposit down in 2021 and were promised a "mid-2022".  Along came mid-2022 and no Starlink for them.  This month many discovered their estimated service date has been pushed to mid-2023.  

 

Eventually when Starlink has launched 4 times as many satellites as they have to date they will have something that can sustain all the promises Musk has offered.   Until then the dates are just promises.  

 

[Ret MP]

On 8/31/2022 at 6:28 AM, twangster said:

 

I'm not sure I follow. 

 

Internet costs will drop substantially for RCG.  Starlink estimates they can save maritime operators 70% over traditional satellite internet for maritime operators.  

 

Royal Caribbean has never bundled internet with cruise fares so why will cruise fares be impacted?

 

I'm guessing that the cost of deployment, fleet wide, will have to be absorbed somewhere!  So, the question is, where?  In the cost of the service or fares?  To absorb or not to absorb, THAT is the question?

[Ourusualbeach]

I still remember the interview with a VP Technology from Royal 3-4 years ago that stated internet prices would fall as they were able to provide better service.  He said they had to keep raising the price to limit the number of people buying the package otherwise too many people would overload the system and everyone would have crappy service.

 

Pretty sure that he's no longer working for Royal.

[twangster]

Looks like Indy is having Starlink installed right now.  Antenna's appear to be on top of the flowrider sun shades over the seating areas.