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LEO developments accelerate connectivity installations on workboats
Connectivity for crew-welfare applications on workboats and tugboats is driving owner deployment decisions, while investment in LEO constellations brings low-cost high-speed communications
SpaceX’s introduction of Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) connectivity and flat panel antennas from Kymeta and Intellian have revolutionised maritime communications, especially for workboats and tugboats, with far more vessels fitted with the terminal hardware in the past three years than before 2022.
According to satellite communications provider MTN’s director of sales, Erik Malecka, more than 300 tugboats have Starlink terminals on board.
Other satellite service providers are also reporting strong demand from the workboat and tugboat sectors for Starlink connectivity.
MTN’s installations include vessels in the fleets owned by McAllister Towing, Moran Towing and Dann Ocean Towing, all in the US with crew of less than 10 seafarers on each vessel, and on Bourbon Offshore’s support vessels operating worldwide.
“Starlink is good for tugs and workboats as there is not a lot of room to fit VSAT antennas on top of the wheelhouse,” said Mr Malecka.
During the 28th ITS Convention exhibition, in May, he told Riviera that flat panel antennas are installed on pedestals or on mounts above the wheelhouse.
Starlink was initially installed to improve crew welfare and connectivity, but has become important for operational, client and corporate communications.
Other advantages of Starlink are the easy installation of flat panel antennas, simplicity of commissioning and integration with other communications equipment and ease of replacing damaged parts.
“Having Starlink terminals ready makes it attractive,” said Mr Malecka. “Starlink will integrate seamlessly with other connectivity, such as VSAT and 5G.”
He said there was also interest in Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO services and in what Amazon will be offering with its LEO services when that is introduced this year.
Controlling connectivity
Vessel captains and shore managers can control bandwidth availability to crews, manage cybersecurity and prioritise communications.
Some vessels may have two flat panel antennas to physically segregate crew welfare services from operational communications, while clients may bring on board their own satellite communications equipment.
“Using the iCafe application, captains can monitor and manage data consumption among the crew, who can use their own credit cards to pay for more data if they want it,” said Mr Malecka.
“Managers can see weekly or monthly data usage across the fleet or on individual vessels,” he said.
SpaceX has launched around 9,600 Starlink satellites and must continuously replenish the fleet as these assets have short lifetimes – five to seven years, depending on the amount of onboard propellant required to maintain their LEO.
Elon Musk’s New York-listed company’s Falcon 9 rocket launches Starlink satellites from sites in Florida and California, with around four launches a week. During H2 2026, satellite deployments will increase once SpaceX’s Starship rocket is fully commissioned and tested, but at lower launch frequencies.
“We expect to commence deploying our next-generation V3 satellites, designed to offer one Tbps of downlink capacity per satellite, using Starship in H2 2026,” said SpaceX.
“We expect that a single Starship launch will be capable of deploying up to 60 V3 satellites to LEO, representing a potential twenty-fold increase in Starlink downlink capacity deployed relative to a Falcon 9 launch, it noted.”
Amazon started full-scale deployment of its satellite LEO constellation in April 2025 and has contracts with Arianespace, Blue Origin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) for future launches.
Its constellation includes 367 satellites following 12 missions in its first 14 months of launch operations, including on Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rocket in late June 2026.
Amazon plans to increase its deployment rate, with more than 100 launches secured to date. Its next launch of 29 satellites should be on 3 July, on ULA’s Atlas V rocket from Florida.
Bonded communications
To counter competition from LEO constellations, Inmarsat introduced NexusWave, a bonded network integrating its Global Xpress Ka band satellites with OneWeb and long-term evolution (LTE) networks where available.
“What LEO operators are doing is driving a new range of demand,” said Inmarsat Maritime vice president and general manager, Gert-Jan Panken, “and the good thing is that NexusWave is able to supply that as well.”
It is a fully managed service with cyber security, unlimited data, 99.9% reliability and crew-focused connectivity and welfare services, which can all be managed, according to Inmarsat.
“Operators request a balance between rest time, social time with crew peers on the vessel, and time spent communicating with loved ones at home,” said Mr Panken.
Connectivity through NexusWave will be boosted later this year and into 2027 as competing LEO services are incorporated into the bonded service and the ViaSat-3 GEO satellites are commissioned.
Security comes from separating corporate, operational and crew traffic behind encrypted overlays within software-defined wide-area networks.
This is what flag states and classification societies increasingly expect of digital fleets, said Mr Panken.
“The underlying carrier, whether Ka band or LTE, is becoming less important, and our customers are getting more interested in outcomes,” he said.
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