Starlink in discussions with multiple airlines for in-flight Wi-Fi

The world of travel was decapitated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a frequent traveler myself (Australia to the US at least 4-5 times a year...) it was in-flight Wi-Fi that needed the biggest upgrade to make traveling those ungodly amount of hours a better experience.

SpaceX's Starlink is wanting to make that better, with the satellite internet network giant in talks with "several" airlines to have their satellites blast super-fast internet onto planes flying through the sky.

SpaceX vice president Jonathan Hofeller explained at a panel during the Connected Aviation Intelligence Summit: "We're in talks with several of the airlines. We have our own aviation product in development ... we've already done some demonstrations to date and [are] looking to get that product finalized to be put on aircraft in the very near future".

• Read more: Starlink internet connection hits 300Mbps, even while covered in ice
• Read more: SpaceX's new Starlink internet download speeds breach 200Mbps
• Read more: SpaceX on Starlink internet: we've had 'extraordinary demand'

The airline antennas that SpaceX has designed will be similar to its consumer-focused antennas, but "with obvious enhancements for aviation connectivity". That being the blindingly obvious: planes are moving through the sky at high speeds versus your house never moving and the satellite dish on top of it never moving.

Starlink's satellites will be transmitting data to each other through laser links, without having to bounce signals off of the ground stations back on Earth. This inter-satellite link will be a pretty damn cool next-gen technology to see being used in the real-world.

Hofeller explained: "The next generation of our constellation, which is in work, will have this inter-satellite connectivity".