The US Navy Is Going All In on Starlink
The Navy is testing out the Elon Musk–owned satellite constellation to provide high-speed internet access to sailors at sea. It’s part of a bigger project that’s about more than just getting online.
A string of lights in the night sky
Life aboard a US Navy warship at sea can be stressful, boring, and lonely, with separation from friends and family and long stretches between port calls both isolating and monotonous. Now, Elon Musk is here to take the edge off.
In a now deleted press release from the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR), the Navy recently announced that it is experimenting with bringing reliable and persistent high-speed internet to its surface warships. The connectivity comes via a new system developed under its Sailor Edge Afloat and Ashore (SEA2) initiative, which uses satellites from the Starlink network maintained by Musk’s SpaceX and other spaceborne broadband internet providers to maintain a constant and consistent internet connection for sailors—a system that NAVWAR says has “applications across the entire Navy.”
The US Defense Department has for decades relied on a network of aging satellites to furnish service members at sea with decidedly slow internet access, according to an updated release NAVWAR shared with WIRED. By contrast, commercial satellite constellations like Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb, which number in the thousands and offer coverage from a significantly lower orbit, provide a far superior connection.
https://www.wired.com/story/us-navy-starlink-sea2/
