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SpaceX has significantly increased its backlog of Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi orders following a recent deal with United Airlines. Nick Galano, SpaceX director of Starlink aviation sales and partnerships, announced that the company now has about 2,500 aircraft under contract. This expansion marks a significant milestone for SpaceX as it ventures into the in-flight connectivity market, with United Airlines committing to outfitting more than 1,000 planes with Starlink.

The United deal is the largest in-flight connectivity agreement for Starlink to date, displacing the airline’s existing WiFi providers and positioning Starlink as the primary service provider for United’s fleet in the coming years. SpaceX has also secured agreements with other airlines such as Hawaiian Airlines, Qatar Airways, Japan’s Zipair, Latvia’s airBaltic, and semi-private charter airline JSX, demonstrating the company’s continued growth and expansion into various markets beyond consumer services.

With approximately 6,400 Starlink satellites in orbit connecting over 3 million customers across 100 countries, SpaceX boasts a vast network capacity that far surpasses legacy systems. Galano highlighted the company’s ability to provide over 300 terabits per second of capacity through its satellite constellation, significantly outperforming traditional systems.

In addition to expanding its network, SpaceX is focused on streamlining the installation process for its antennas on aircraft. By innovating and reducing installation times to under a day, SpaceX aims to minimize downtime for airlines during the retrofitting process. This efficiency contrasts with traditional retrofitting processes that can take days to complete and require aircraft to be taken out of service for extended periods.

Overall, SpaceX’s rapid expansion and technological advancements in the aviation sector position the company as a key player in the in-flight connectivity market, offering airlines a reliable and high-speed internet solution for passengers.

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