SpaceX does not plan to add ‘tiered pricing’ for Starlink satellite internet service, president says
SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell wants what SpaceX is doing to “reinvigorate the industry,” while also getting “young children thinking about being in the space industry again.”
Kimberly White | Vanity Fair | Getty Images
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell does not think the company will add “tiered pricing” for its direct-to-consumer Starlink satellite internet service, which is currently offered at $99 a month in limited early access.
“We’re going to try to keep it as simple as possible and transparent as possible, so right now there are no plans to tier for consumers,” Shotwell said, speaking at the Satellite 2021 “LEO Digital Forum” on a virtual panel on Tuesday.
In a tiered pricing system, what the customer pays is based on the level of service he or she chooses.
Starlink is the company’s capital-intensive project to build an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites, known in the space industry as a constellation, designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers anywhere on the planet.
A Starlink user terminal installed on the roof of a building in Canada.
SpaceX
The company has launched more than 1,200 satellites to orbit so far.
In October, SpaceX began rolling out early Starlink service in a public beta that now extends to customers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany and New Zealand – with service priced at $99 a month in the U.S., in addition to an upfront cost for the equipment needed to connect to the satellites.
Elon Musk’s company has continued to expand Starlink’s service, with the public beta gaining more than 10,000 users in its first three months.
Musk’s company plans to expand Starlink beyond homes, asking the FCC to widen its connectivity authorization to “moving vehicles,” so the service could be used with everything from aircraft to ships to large trucks.
