Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a refundable deposit, not a down payment. There is no obligation on either side. There is too much demand and the service is oversubscribed in populated areas. Planes spend a lot of time in areas that aren't populated, so it makes perfect sense that they can offer service to planes before people in oversubscribed regions. They are working as hard as they possibly can to get Starship working, which will enable St…
> Planes spend a lot of time in areas that aren't populate no, planes spend most of their time in populated areas. specifically near major airports, and the WiFi needs to work on the ground as well.
> no, planes spend most of their time in populated areas
These statements are not mutually exclusive. Even if planes aren't spending an absolute majority of their time in unpopulated areas, it's still a lot of time compared to the 0% that a fixed terminal in a suburb would spend. Starlink needs paying customers in those unpopulated areas, even if they are only there some of the time. And the customers need Starlink too, even more than rural customers, many of whom could in theory be served by fixed wireless or something; that's not a possibility for planes over the poles or what have you.