With another Starlink satellite launch expected this evening (March 9, 2021), there is now a move underway by SpaceX in their latest request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to bring all manner of moving vehicles into the communications delivery fold via a blanket license.
Currently, there are 1,122 LEO satellites serving the needs of communities in six countries. With antennas mounted to vehicles — from cars to ships to planes to RVs — these dishes will be quite similar to the current antennas used for home and business connectivity. However, due to their large size, these antennas will not be installed on Musk’s Tesla vehicles.
The Starlink constellation is planning to have as many as 42,000 satellites on-orbit by the middle of 2027. Currently, there some 10,000 users of this SpaceX constellation.
David Goldman, who is the Director of Satellite Policy for SpaceX, explained to the FCC that these Starlink antennas for mobile connectivity would certainly serve the public interest and will enable increased productivity, and such comms are now expected, regardless if the user is stationary or mobile.