Satellite operators will soon join airlines in using Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi

""What it does for our customers and for the company is we are able to get more than 10x, maybe even 50x, the amount of data that they're able to bring down, and we're able to offer them that on a latency of nearly instant," Stang said in an interview with Ars."

"SpaceX's mini-lasers are designed to achieve link speeds of 25Gbps at distances up to 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers). These speeds will "open new business models" for satellite operators who can now rely on the same "Internet speed and responsiveness as cloud providers and telecom networks on the ground," Muon said in a statement."

""With persistent optical broadband, Muon Halo satellites will move from being isolated vehicles to becoming active, real‑time nodes on Starlink's global network," Stang said in a press release. "That shift transforms how missions are designed and how fast insights flow to decision‑makers on Earth.""

""We like to believe part of why SpaceX trusts us to be the ones to be able to lead on this is because our system is designed to really deal with very different levels of requirements," Smirin said. " As far as we're aware, this is the first integration into a satellite. We have a ton of interest from commercial customers for our capabilities in general, and we expect this should just boost that quite significantly.""

Optical laser links on satellites provide far greater throughput than traditional radio systems and avoid radio-spectrum constraints. SpaceX mini-lasers target 25Gbps links across distances up to 2,500 miles, enabling orders-of-magnitude increases in data downlink and near-instant latency. Muon's Halo platform, with satellites up to half a ton, will integrate persistent optical broadband to turn satellites into active, real-time nodes on Starlink's network, changing mission design and accelerating delivery of insights to decision-makers. The first laser-equipped Muon satellite is scheduled to launch in early 2027, and commercial interest is strong for these capabilities.

Read at Ars Technica