Starlink
Elon Musk's Starlink is taking over planes and cruise ships, and traffic is booming as a result.
Global internet traffic from SpaceX's satellite internet service more than tripled in 2024, according to data from IT service provider Cloudflare.
Starlink, which uses a network of thousands of low-orbit satellites to provide high-speed internet to areas with limited web access, has expanded rapidly over the past year.
The service has launched in a host of new countries, including Chad, Mongolia, and Argentina, and has also become increasingly visible on planes and cruises.
United Airlines announced in September it had struck a deal to begin offering free WiFi using Starlink on all its flights from next year after Hawaiian Airlines began offering free Starlink access earlier in 2024.
Qatar Airways also launched its Starlink service, which Business Insider's Pete Syme found offered impressively quick internet speeds when he tested it in October.
Several major cruise companies have begun offering Starlink on their ships, with Carnival Cruises announcing in May that all of its cruise liners are now equipped with Starlink.
SpaceX also launched a laptop-sized version of Starlink's satellite dish called Starlink Mini in June, with the company offering a mobile "Roam" package for RV users and van-life enthusiasts.
Cloudflare said Starlink has seen rapid growth in areas with "pent-up demand" for alternative internet services. Traffic in Georgia and Paraguay, where Starlink launched in November and December 2023, has increased by 100 and 900 times this year, respectively.
It marks a second consecutive year of rapid growth for Starlink. It also almost tripled traffic in 2023.
Starlink has become a key part of SpaceX's business, though it has occasionally entangled the rocket company and Elon Musk in political controversy.
SpaceX is reportedly in talks to sell shares in a deal that would value the NASA contractor at around $350 billion. This would make SpaceX one of the most valuable private companies on the planet and double its $175 billion valuation at the end of 2023.
