Budget Carrier Frontier Joins Fleet of Airlines Offering Starlink-Powered Wi-Fi
In its IPO prospectus, SpaceX said that Starlink accounted for just over 60% of its $18.7 billion in revenue last year.
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Mere weeks after SpaceX’s mega IPO, founder Elon Musk is reaping some early rewards from his ambitious goals for Starlink.
On Tuesday, low-budget airline Frontier became the latest carrier to use Starlink’s satellite network to power in-flight Wi-Fi, with service launching next year. For Starlink, it’s a small step in its plans to become a global wireless powerhouse.
Star Gazing
When it comes to actually making money, Starlink is the brightest star in the SpaceX constellation of various future-flung business units. In its IPO prospectus, the company said that Starlink, with its 10.3 million subscribers, accounted for just over 60% of its $18.7 billion in revenue last year; that share ticked up to nearly 70% in the first quarter of this year. More importantly, Starlink is the only unit that’s actually profitable, generating $4.4 billion in income last year.
In its prospectus, SpaceX identified “Airborne Altitude” as one of six areas where “terrestrial infrastructure” falls short that Starlink is uniquely positioned to service, listing it alongside low-density rural areas and deep-sea environments. Still, the company is betting that it can expand Starlink’s aperture:
- In late June, following the IPO, the Financial Times reported that SpaceX had been telling investors it plans to launch a direct-to-consumer mobile service to challenge AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile in the US. In September, the company agreed to pay competitor EchoStar $17 billion for wireless spectrum licenses in a move many saw as laying the foundation for such a network.
- Also late last month, Bloomberg reported that SpaceX had held discussions with Charter Communications to discuss partnering on a consumer mobile phone offering.
Traditional telecom stocks have been hammered in recent months over fears of satellite-based disruption. In May, the Big Three even formed a joint venture to launch a satellite-based service of their own.
The Final Frontier: The deal makes Frontier one of many airlines that now rely on Starlink for in-flight Wi-Fi, with United, American, Southwest and countless smaller players already signing on for the satellite internet. Unlike most of those competitors, this will mark the first time the ultra-budget carrier Frontier has ever offered Wi-Fi on its flights, meaning one of the last remaining email-free sanctuaries left on earth will be eliminated.
