SpaceX Starlink has 2,500 aircraft under contract

PARIS — SpaceX nearly doubled its order book for Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi with last week’s launch. united airlines agreement, a company director said Tuesday.

“We're very excited to have close to 2,500 aircraft under contract now, turning what was effectively a startup into what we believe is a growing experience that will resonate with all passengers and airlines around the world,” Nick Galano, SpaceX's director of Starlink aviation sales and partnerships, said during a panel at the World Space Business Week conference in Paris.

The satellite internet division of Elon Musk’s space company is making inroads into the in-flight connectivity (IFC) market. Last week, United said it will equip its more than 1,000 planes with Starlink and won’t charge customers for Wi-Fi.

United's mega-deal was Starlink's largest IFC deal yet. It will also oust United's quartet of existing Wi-Fi providers: ViasatPanasonic, Thales and Go-go —as Starlink will be installed on the airline’s planes in the coming years.

SpaceX has already announced flight agreements and has started service with Hawaiian AirlinesQatar Airways, Japan's Zipair, Latvia's airBaltic and semi-private charter airline JSX.

SpaceX has steadily expanded its Starlink network and product offerings since its debut in 2020. The company initially targeted consumers but has expanded into other markets, including enterprise services such as aviation and maritime.

There are currently about 6,400 Starlink satellites in orbit connecting more than 3 million customers in 100 countries, according to the company.

Galano touted “the huge capacity factor that we can provide” through Starlink, saying the current satellite constellation is “probably over 100 times what all the traditional systems have provided” due to “over 300 terabits per second of current capacity.”

SpaceX is also continuing to increase that capacity, launching rockets carrying new Starlink satellites every three days on average this year, according to the company.

Galano also noted that SpaceX is trying to reduce the time it takes to install new antennas on planes. The process, known as retrofitting, is a problem for airlines because it requires taking planes out of active service for several days to upgrade or replace a satellite communications system.

“We are trying to simplify those installations (innovation is the word we use) to do them in less than a day, which we have demonstrated on the Hawaiian and JSX fleets,” Galano said.

In comparison, Delta Air Lines According to Glenn Latta, the airline’s executive director of inflight entertainment and connectivity, Delta said modernizing its satellite-based IFC systems takes “an average of three days.” But Latta said Delta’s process, which requires modernizing 1,200 aircraft, is also more intensive compared with installing Starlink on Hawaiian’s fleet, which had 66 aircraft as of mid-2024, according to a regulatory filing.

“For us, a retrofit is about removing the system that's already there… and then you can do the installation,” Latta told CNBC after the conference panel.[Hawaiian] “We have never had a satellite communications system, so that is one of the differences to consider.”

Delta, which relies on Viasat for inflight service, said in early 2023 that it would make its Wi-Fi free for members of its frequent flyer program, a move Latta said has proven invaluable to the airline. Both Delta and United are in a battle for high-end customers.

“We've gained 3 million additional SkyMiles members as part of our loyalty program by offering free Internet access,” Latta said.

— CNBC's Leslie Josephs contributed to this article.