Peregrinus now has a satellite-enabled Wi-Fi hotspot: an Iridium GO!. Through this device, we are able to post entries to this blog from any location on the planet, and chat with friends via SMS. This is the first post we are sending through the Iridium satellite constellation, so it is going from our current location in Fort Lauderdale to whichever of the 66 Iridium satellites happens to be flying above our heads at this moment at an altitude of 781 kms; this satellite then forwards the message to sister Iridium satellites until it reaches one that happens to be orbiting at that moment within sight of one of Iridium's downlink gateways.
We chose to purchase an "unlimited internet" subscription to the Iridium service, so we should be able to post regularly as we cross the Atlantic. Now, let's not get too excited about this "unlimited internet": its throughtput speed is about 1/20th of the internet speed you got when you last used with a dialup modem just before you switched to an internet broadband connection. So please do not expect to see any video, and most messages will probably be text only.