USCG cutter Healy will trial connectivity with US billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network in the Arctic
This ice-class vessel will use satellites racing around the polar regions at an orbiting height of 550 km to test the high-speed and low-latency performance. High bandwidth will be provided to Healy’s crew and for operational purposes as this cutter sails in high latitudes, from Alaska to the North Pole.
The Starlink constellation consists of nearly 2,000 LEO satellites. SpaceX expects to double this to 4,200 satellites over the next 18 months.
1999-built Healy is the USCG’s largest and most technologically advanced icebreaker. This diesel-electric ship was built by Avondale Industries in New Orleans, Louisiana with technology originally developed for Finnish icebreakers, and transferred to the US.
Satellite communications in the Arctic have improved in the past decade, with investment by Iridium in LEO satellites with L-band communications.
Starlink and OneWeb have invested in satellites to provide communications in Ku-band, with higher bandwidth than Iridium satellites, especially for connectivity to remote locations in the Arctic.
