Starlink dealers now have access to Nextant Aerospace’s latest supplemental type certificate (STC) for installation of SpaceX's high-speed, low-earth orbit (LEO) satcom system in Bombardier Global 5000/5500 business jets. Nextant is the engineering arm of Flexjet.

Retail price of the Starlink aviation system hardware for business aircraft is $150,000, not including installation. Service costs range from $2,000 per month for 20 GB and $100 per additional GB to $10,000 for unlimited data.

Nextant is also developing similar STCs for Bombardier Challengers and Embraer Praetors, and these are expected to be approved in the first quarter of 2025. Next up for Nextant will be the Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 in the second quarter.

“Reliable high-speed internet connectivity for all phases of flight was one of the last significant technology challenges that our industry needed to solve,” said Jay Heublein, president of Flexjet global maintenance and product support. “We recognized early on that the technology developed by Starlink represented an evolutionary step forward for in-flight connectivity, and as an industry we could finally offer a solution that was consistent with the expectations our owners have.”

With more than 6,000 LEO satellites in orbit, Starlink offers worldwide coverage with download speeds from 40 to 220 Mbps and uploads of eight to 25 Mpbs. System latency is less than 99 milliseconds, according to SpaceX.