I am not an internet connectivity tech. nor trained regarding satellites. I keep reasonably informed (I hope). You may wish to follow along my thoughts about the global connectivity info. I search out & share here, partly my own personal opinions & conclusions. Your own thinking & conclusions are also necessary. Hopefully I can save you some time by sending some of your thoughts in helpful directions & towards useful questions.

Global connectivity (broadband networks) via satellites. SpaceX looms large as a provider; last month it was estimated that “SpaceX’s Starlink … already has some 2 million users in over 60 countries”. & Global satellite connectivity while on a cruise ship, offshore? Until recently, there was more than one satellite internet provider for major cruise lines. Currently though, SpaceX’s Starlink seems to have partnered with most of the major cruise lines (as well as some niche cruise line brands) to provide this service. Many headlines I noted on the subject over the past year+ have announced cruise lines going with Starlink at the moment.

It’s been opined that SpaceX’s Starlink & Amazon’s Project Kuiper are (the?) major players. SpaceX is thought to have a considerable head start. And it’s been said that with plans to build up to [five] satellites a day, Amazon might now progress and/or catch up rapidly. Let’s look at Project Kuiper.

Amazon (though with no price named, last I have seen) says it wants to make their Project Kuiper service affordable. Project Kuiper has been based out of a “state-of-the-art facility” in Washington state (its primary HQ for R&D), & it also has a nearby satellite production facility. Mid-2023 the company announced the building of a new satellite processing facility in Florida to prepare/integrate satellites with rockets pre-launch. Apparently Amazon has contracts with 3 different providers for their launchings.

I read that: 

– Project Kuiper “successfully tested laser communications between its satellites” recently, in November. (Not brand new technology; “Starlink has been using optical space lasers since 2021”);

– Project Kuiper’s communications system “allows satellites to transfer data directly between them”; a ‘satellite constellation’ can work “over areas that don’t have ground stations”  [A note from blog writer; I surmise: including offshore on the high seas];

– a Project Kuiper technology V.P. says “this system is designed fully in-house to optimize for speed, cost & reliability”; &

– Project Kuiper expects to start providing service to the earliest customers by the end of 2024.

I will be on the lookout for other players in the global satellite connectivity marketplace.

A starting note regarding unlocked mobile hotspots (variously called Mi-Fi, “portable Wi-Fi routers, pocket Wi-Fi, mobile Wi-Fi devices, portable hotspots, Mi-Fis”, etc.) I am not sure whether any of these can currently connect directly to a satellite (perhaps the newer SpaceX direct-to-cell satellites will enable this). A traveler can port their own mobile hotspot (a compact gadget e.g. size of a deck of cards), to access connectivity via a wireless/telecom network. I have used a portable hotspot for years when traveling.