VSAT (Generic Maritime)
Generic geostationary maritime satellite — the legacy "internet at sea" before Starlink.
Provider Snapshot
Where you'll find it
About VSAT (Generic Maritime)
VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) is a generic term, not a single company. In maritime context it refers to the geostationary Ku-band or Ka-band satellite systems that powered cruise ships, ferries and merchant vessels for two decades before Starlink Maritime launched in 2022. Multiple operators sell maritime VSAT capacity (Intelsat, SES, Inmarsat/Viasat, Eutelsat) and multiple integrators package it (Marlink, Speedcast, Castor, KVH). The defining characteristics are: ~600ms latency (geostationary orbit), shared-beam economics that produce 5–20 Mbps per vessel typical, and a dish-on-the-ship antenna of roughly 60–120 cm. Many of our seed entries list "vsat" as the wifi provider where the actual underlying operator and integrator is unknown — a deliberate fallback meaning "legacy GEO satellite, pre-Starlink." Stena Line short Irish Sea routes, Color Line, DFDS overnight ships and Brittany Ferries Bay of Biscay routes are examples of operators that still rely partly or wholly on VSAT in 2026.
History
Maritime VSAT services emerged in the 1990s and became commonplace through the 2000s as cruise lines added passenger broadband. Inmarsat Fleet (and later Fleet Xpress), Intelsat and SES Mobile (later SES networks) supplied the bulk of maritime VSAT capacity, while integrators like Marlink, Speedcast and KVH ran the customer-facing managed services. Starlink Maritime launched in 2022 and immediately compressed VSAT economics — within three years most major cruise lines switched, leaving VSAT as a backup or for vessels too small / too remote to economically deploy Starlink.
Operators using VSAT (Generic Maritime) (16)
Cruise (3)
Ferry (13)
How VSAT Compares
VSAT's competitive position is unambiguously declining vs Starlink — same coverage, much higher latency, much lower throughput, often higher dollar-per-Mbps cost. It survives as a backup link, on vessels in regions where Starlink has not yet been licensed, and on small operators whose fleet economics do not yet justify Starlink. Long-term, the most likely outcome is that VSAT becomes a regulatory-fallback or polar-coverage product rather than a primary internet link at sea.
| VSAT | Starlink | |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit | GEO / ATG (high latency) | LEO (~30ms latency) |
| Typical Speed | 5–20 Mbps typical to the vessel; ~600ms latency | 100+ Mbps typical, 350+ peak |
| Latency | ~600ms (GEO) / 60–100ms (ATG) | ~20–44ms |
| Trajectory | Defending installed base | Rapid airline adoption |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is VSAT?
VSAT stands for Very Small Aperture Terminal — generic terminology for a satellite ground terminal with a dish typically under 3 metres. In maritime context it means geostationary Ku-band or Ka-band satellite internet, with a stabilised dish on the ship that tracks a single satellite.
Which ships still use VSAT instead of Starlink?
Many smaller / older / remote operators: Color Line, Stena Line short routes, DFDS overnight ferries, river cruise operators, fishing fleets, merchant marine. Many of these run hybrid VSAT + Starlink today.
VSAT vs Starlink at sea?
Starlink wins on every consumer metric: latency (~30ms vs ~600ms), throughput (typically 100+ Mbps per terminal vs 5–20 Mbps shared), and dollar-per-Mbps. VSAT's remaining advantages are global polar coverage (Starlink coverage thins above ~70°N), L-band safety integration via Inmarsat, and contractual stickiness for operators with existing multi-year deals.
Why does VSAT have such high latency?
Geostationary orbit is 36,000 km above Earth. A round trip from ship to satellite to ground station and back takes light ~480ms minimum, and real-world systems add another 100–200ms of router and queuing delay, ending up around 600ms. Starlink (~550 km, LEO) does the round trip in ~30ms.