SpaceX prices fast Starlink satellite Internet for ships, yachts, and oil rigs at US$5,000 with the highest download speeds

Elon Musk's SpaceX venture didn't waste time after the FCC's approval for its Starlink satellite Internet service to be used by Earth Stations in Motion (ESIMs), or, in other words, on moving vehicles, be they terrestrial, or sailing at the high seas. So far, despite offering a Starlink RV option, SpaceX didn't have permission to provide satellite Internet in moving vehicles, despite that its customers were sometimes using it this way and the FCC allowed ESIM usage as long as SpaceX is fine with possible interference from "current and future services."

A Stralink Maritime option was immediately born, at the eye-watering US$5,000 price a month in addition to the US$10,000 one-time equipment purchase for two Starlink terminals. Needless to say, at this price Starlink Maritime is geared more towards customers ranging from "merchant vessels to oil rigs to premium yachts," rather than your lake cabin boat.

So far, the most expensive SpaceX satellite Internet offering has been Starlink Business (former Premium), at US$500 per month and a one-time hardware cost of US$2,500. For comparison, the regular Starlink which recently increased in price, is US$110 a month with a one-time terminal cost of just US$599. Thankfully, Starlink Maritime can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis as it "offers the ability to pause and un-pause service at any time, and is billed in one month increments."

Starlink Maritime promises up to 350 Mbps download speeds, the same speeds that Starlink Business used to list. With the introduction of the Maritime service, however, SpaceX changed the promised Starlink Business speeds in the option's description, and now only says that "with more than double the antenna capability of Starlink, Starlink Business delivers faster internet speeds and higher throughput." It seems that it is reserving the highest guaranteed speeds for its newfangled Starlink Maritime option now.

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