Starlink says boats and rigs are about to get shore-level internet speeds.
SpaceX has started notifying enterprise Starlink customers with maritime service that they should expect gigabit download speeds once the company's first batch of next-generation V3 satellites reaches orbit. The catch: this applies only to customers running Starlink's maritime hardware, a dish that costs $2,000. SpaceX hasn't given a firm date for when those speeds will actually land, just that the V3 launch is the trigger. The notice reportedly went to a subset of enterprise accounts, not the whole maritime customer base.
Ships, oil rigs, and cargo vessels have paid a premium for years for connections that lag far behind anything on land, so a gigabit tier at sea would be a genuine leap for an industry still used to satellite-phone-era bandwidth. It also shows how much weight Starlink is putting on V3 hardware to justify its priciest maritime plans, which already cost far more than land-based Starlink service.
Gigabit promises are easy to make before a satellite has actually launched. Worth revisiting once V3 is in orbit and boats are online, not just when the notice goes out.