TAMPA, Fla. — SpaceX and SES are pooling their broadband satellites to supply cruise operators an integrated service promising as much as 3 gigabits per second (Gbps) of capability per ship.
The SES Cruise mPowered + Starlink service would mostly use SpaceX’s low Earth orbit network (LEO) and satellites in medium Earth orbit (MEO) from SES.
In northern and southern regions away from the poles where there is no such thing as a service, SES vice chairman of product management for maritime products Gregory Martin said their joint offering would use its geostationary satellites.
SES would sell and manage the multi-orbit service when it becomes operational later this yr and SpaceX would get a cut of the sales, Martin told in an interview.
The Luxembourg-based operator can also be providing software to optimize the information traffic, said Martin, who used to administer satellite communications at Royal Caribbean, an SES customer that became the primary cruise line to adopt Starlink last yr.
He said SES serves five of the highest six cruise lines, which are actually either using or testing Starlink services.
Starlink and SES can still independently sell standalone connectivity to the cruise market following the deal.
But quite than selecting between SES and Starlink, Martin said he expects cruise operators “are going to have multiple connections off the ship” and “we would like to assist manage that, be a giant a part of that, and dealing along with Starlink … we’re capable of provide the perfect possible service.”
The service is available in two tiers: Pro at 1.5 Gbps per ship and Premium at 3 Gbps.
Martin said there are currently only a handful of cruise ships with anything near 1.5 Gbps, and in lots of cases the combined offering would enable them to double their throughput at a competitive price.
There are currently no plans to develop a user terminal that would hook up with Starlink and SES.
The Pro tier requires 10 Starlink high throughput flat terminals and Premium needs 18, in keeping with Martin, and each tiers would wish two to a few terminals for SES in MEO.
In a separate interview with , SES CEO Roy Pinto said the operator is open to discussing replicating its partnership with SpaceX in “very selective opportunities, markets or geographies.”