SpaceX’s Starlink secures more spectrum and airlines as it passes 8 million customers

SpaceX is buying different $2.6 cardinal worthy of wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar, an expansion of a $17 cardinal woody announced successful September, arsenic its outer net concern Starlink continues to triumph caller customers astir the world.

The spectrum merchantability comes conscionable a time aft SpaceX revealed it has passed 8 cardinal planetary customers. On Thursday, the institution added much commercialized contracts to that total. International Airlines Group announced it volition instal Starlink inflight net connected much than 500 craft crossed its portfolio, which includes British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus.

The further EchoStar spectrum volition beryllium utilized to turn Starlink’s nascent “direct to cell” constellation, which initially lets T-Mobile customers entree satellite-based 5G internet.

The woody with International Airlines Group volition spot Starlink added to planes opening successful 2026. The European radical volition marque Starlink disposable connected short-haul, long-haul, and planetary routes — fundamentally each level not slated for retirement, according to a property release.

Starlink has been creeping crossed the aviation manufacture the past fewer years. It started with smaller jets and backstage planes in 2022, but has rapidly racked up large commercialized partnerships, with Hawaiian airlines being the first. United Airlines announced a woody to integrate Starlink net successful precocious 2024 and past accelerated the rollout earlier this year. Qatar Airways outfitted dozens of its wide-body planes with Starlink this year, too.

All of this has helped SpaceX notch much than 8 cardinal customers for Starlink crossed 150 antithetic countries. That’s up from 6 cardinal successful June.