SpaceX asks FCC for maritime links
July 27, 2021
By Chris Forrester
SpaceX has asked the FCC for permission to install two (normally) ground-based Starlink user terminals aboard a maritime vessel.
The application says the request is “experimental” and would run September 1st until October 31st.
The full request says: “[to] operate two mobile ground-based Starlink user terminals aboard a maritime vessel while embarked in US territorial waters in the North Atlantic Ocean.”
It isn’t known what SpaceX intends to do with the experimental dishes, but it is worth remembering that the rocket company has two of its own vessels in the region. They are the ‘drone’ landing barges which are used for booster landings.
More traditionally an installation was made in Oklahoma by the tribal Cherokee Nation by Chief Chuck Hoskin saying the tribe needs the SpaceX technology for its internet connectivity.