SpaceX It has launched the first batch of Starlink satellites that will be able to communicate directly with mobile phones ahead of planned testing later this year.
The company launched six Starlink satellites with this capability along with a group of 15 other Starlink birds aboard a Falcon 9 rocket late last night. SpaceX received US regulatory approval last month to test satellites in partnership with T-Mobile. SpaceX has a number of other partnerships with local telecommunications companies in countries including Australia, Canada and Japan.
The approval, granted by the US Federal Communications Commission, was for 180 days. SpaceX said the tests will eventually include 840 satellites relaying 4G connectivity to about 2,000 unmodified smartphones. The satellites will serve as “cell phone towers in space.” According to the Starlink website.
The site estimates that text messaging will become available this year, with voice and data services starting in 2025 and connectivity to IoT devices also in 2025, although SpaceX will need to get regulatory approval before starting commercial service.
And while SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the service “will allow mobile connectivity anywhere on Earth,” he added some sobering caveats: “While this is a great solution for locations without cellular connectivity, it doesn’t meaningfully compete with Current landline cell phones. networks.”
This will allow mobile communication anywhere on Earth.
Note that this only supports about 7MB per packet and the packets are quite large, so although this is a great solution for locations without cellular connectivity, it doesn’t meaningfully compete with existing ground… https://t.co/ymHpw8XBHl
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2024
But even with these limitations, there is undoubtedly a race among companies looking to capture a share of the direct-to-cell market. Other players include Link, Which appeared for the first time in PalauAmazon Kuiper Project and AST SpaceMobile. Kuiper — a more general competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink constellation — announced its own partnership with Verizon in 2021, while AST’s telecom partners include AT&T and Vodafone.