"We are in talks with several airlines," Hofeller told the panel. "We have our aviation product in development, we have already done some demonstrations to date and we are looking to finalize that product to be put on airplanes in the near future."
SpaceX initiated a beta launch of its Starlink satellites in 2018 in order to cover a global shortage of broadband internet connections, particularly in rural areas where fiber connections are generally not readily available. With the beta plan, most Starlink customers pay a one-time fee of $ 500 for a package that includes a self-aligning Starlink antenna and Wi-Fi router, and then $ 99 a month for monthly Internet services thereafter. In the years since its first launch, the company has shipped nearly 1,800 of the 4,400 Starlink satellites that are estimated to be needed to provide global coverage.
Starlink's internet service is based on a low earth orbit model, in which its satellite clusters are located closer to the planet than the distant geostationary orbits of the larger internet satellites that typically provide internet services to commercial aircraft. It is the technology that is currently being used by executives as the primary reason why "potential customers should choose Starlink over its outdated rivals", and it is also the same technology currently used by a growing group of competitors.