Starlink Doubles Aviation Prices, Adds Region Boundaries

SpaceX sent an email to customers yesterday announcing higher pricing for aviation plans on its Starlink low-earth-orbit satcom network, effective August 7. According to SpaceX, “As the number of airplanes connected by Starlink continues to grow, we are committed to providing reliable, high-speed service plans that meet the needs of aviators all over the world.”

The biggest change is for the former unlimited plan, which worked on a global basis and was priced at $10,000 per month. Starting August 7, the new Aviation Global Unlimited service costs $20,000 per month, with service speeds of up to 1 Gbps. SpaceX requires the Starlink Aviation Performance kit to get the 1 Gbps speeds on this plan but has not yet provided details on the kit’s cost or what it includes.

For $12,500 per month, the new Aviation Regional Unlimited plan offers speeds of up to 500 Mbps but is limited to “the continent associated with your service area, designed for operations within a single continental region,” according to SpaceX.

The former $2,000-per-month plan, with no geographic limitations, included 20 GB per month, and customers could pay $100 per GB for more data. The new monthly price for this level is $4,000 per month and includes 25 GB, with additional data costing $250 per GB, and it is limited to a single continental region.

The owner of a large-cabin jet, who was among the early adopters of Starlink’s aviation service, is finding it difficult to justify the increased cost. “We were one of the first to install Starlink in [our jet], and that’s a $300,000 capital investment,” he told AIN. “Now they’re forcing us to spend three to four times what we budgeted [for connectivity].”

This owner’s chief pilot has contacted SpaceX about the price increases, and the response was, “If you don’t like it, you can cancel.” His company was using the $2,000 per month service, which worked well for a jet that flies about 200 hours a year, including a handful of overseas trips to Europe. With the new billing cycle starting August 7, that amount will double, and he won’t be able to use Starlink for international trips. “It’s kind of crazy,” he said. “I don’t want to spend $240,000 for something [global unlimited] I use a few times a year.”

He suggested that Starlink ought to offer a way to switch on international service only when needed, similar to what it does for maritime customers once they travel further than 12 nm offshore. “If we had a toggle switch and could pay whatever the per-gigabyte price is while flying to Europe, that would be easier to swallow,” he said. “But now they’re saying, ‘We’re going to geolock you to the U.S. and double your rate, and [even more] for overseas travel.’”