Starlink Releases a Flat High Performance Mobile Dishy for Maritime Use

SpaceX quietly released the "Flat High Performance Dishy" for Maritime Customers on their website.

The new flat mount Dishy does not have aiming motors and a pole, and is intended to mount on a horizontal surface. The new Flat Dishy is now provided for all new customers ordering the Maritime service, and is also being made available as a free upgrade for existing Maritime customers with a motorized Dishy.

When Starlink Maritime was first released, the website noted that customers would have the opportunity to upgrade to a flat panel Starlink in the fourth quarter of 2022, and now it is officially released. 

New orders for Starlink Maritime will receive two Flat High Performance Starlinks, along with Wedge Mounts.

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Flat High-Performance Dishy Details

The Flat High Performance Dishy appears to be the same underlying hardware as the previous High Performance system, but with the pole and motors removed - giving it a much lower profile overall.  This also allows for mounting the dish on any horizontal surface, increasing the mounting options, particularly on vehicles and boats.

The Maritime service includes two Flat High Performance Starlinks for redundancy and obstruction mitigation. For mounting on a vessel, Starlink recommends:

For best performance, each Starlink should be installed in an above deck area with a completely unobstructed view of the sky. Both Starlinks will have an active connection in case part of the vessel is obstructing the view of the Starlink satellites. For example, users can install each Starlink dish on either side of the ships mast.

SpaceX suggests the two units should be separated by at least 14 feet, and each Dishy comes with a companion router that works independently. Customers who want to bond the two systems together need to work out a solution on their own - such as by using a Peplink router.

The new dish itself is flat with the cable coming out of one end, and the dish itself can be flat-mounted, at least in theory. 

However, the Maritime kit includes "wedge" mounts that tilt the Flat antenna eight degrees and allow for cable access below the mount via a cable gland. Starlink recommends tiling the antenna to the forward part of the vessel or vehicle.

Will the Flat High Performance Dishy Be Available For Other Starlink Services?

We covered in a previous story that Starlink started blocking In-Motion use on Vehicles, which likely meant a true mobile version was coming soon. 

The Flat High Performance Dishy is designed for mobile applications and challenging environments.

The new flat Dishy does give us hope that a flat-mount mobile Starlink will be available for other Starlink services, as the Maritime plan continues to be out of reach for most nomads due to the high costs of the hardware and the very expensive $5,000/mo service plan.

Currently, the new flat Dishy is only available to Maritime customers, but Starlink could make this dish available to other services in the future - or SpaceX may come out with a similar flat-mount model at a more consumer-friendly price point.

For comparison, the standard High Performance Dishy is available for $2,500 to Starlink Business customers - and is an optional upgrade for Starlink Residential customers.

Concluding Thoughts

The release of the Flat High Performance Dishy is the first Starlink Hardware to enable true mobile use.  The lack of a pole and motors will also improve mounting options and reliability as the new Dishy has no moving parts.

However, this new flat mount Dishy is currently only available on the high-end Maritime service, which costs $10,000 for equipment and $5,000/month - out of reach for most nomads. While it's still speculation at this point, it's likely that the new flat Dishy will be offered with other services, or that Starlink will come out with additional flat-mount Dishys in the future that are more in reach for nomads looking for mobile connectivity at a more reasonable price. 

Keep in mind that mobility will likely be an extra monthly fee on top of the existing plans and portability that exist today.

We'll have to wait and see what Starlink releases next and if the plan and hardware costs are favorable to RVers and Cruisers.

We'll also have to see if Starlink continues to block in-motion use from existing hardware that was never officially approved for in-motion use once mobility becomes an option. 

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