SpaceX and T-Mobile sent up a bunch of Direct to Cell Starlink satellites back in January as a first step toward universal coverage. The company quickly sent and received the first text messages, and now the first post on X has appeared.
SpaceX and T-Mobile joined forces in August 2022 to launch the Coverage Above and Beyond initiative, "a breakthrough new plan to bring phone connectivity everywhere." Instead of encountering dead zones and spotty coverage from ground-based towers, the idea was to enable LTE/5G communication via Direct to Cell satellites in low-Earth orbit using regular handsets.
The first six Starlink satellites under the collaboration were launched atop a Falcon 9 at the beginning of January, and six days later the SpaceX team send and received the first text messages using unmodified phones on the ground, confirming that the system was operational.
The Direct to Cell satellites included some custom silicon and large phased arrays with "extremely sensitive radio receivers and high-powered transmitters" specifically designed for communicating with standard handsets – which don't have the transmit power to connect with satellites. "Direct to Cell satellites plug into the existing Starlink satellite constellation via laser backhaul; meaning even our early satellites can provide services anywhere with regulatory approvals without requiring dedicated ground infrastructure," explained SpaceX in a press release.
The company is planning to add hundreds of Direct to Cell satellites during 2024 to expand coverage and bring its text constellation online, with voice, data and Internet of Things to follow. However, the team has jumped the queue a little by firing off a post on Elon Musk's social media platform X – which reads "This post was sent through a SpaceX Direct to Cell satellite in Space."
The project's Ben Longmier followed that with a photo of "tree cover in a small valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains earlier in the day when we were exchanging some DMs on X" and also replied to Musk confirming that the Direct to Cell team is making progress, and that the satellites "have by far the strongest cell signal at my house, just 15 miles outside the heart of Silicon Valley."
The SpaceX team just completed the first post on X from a phone to one of our Direct to Cell satellites!
— Ben Longmier (@longmier) February 26, 2024
This was the tree cover in a small valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains earlier in the day when we were exchanging some DMs on X. https://t.co/KFl1fZ9pvH pic.twitter.com/pzveDbSn8P
Pricing for these services has yet to be revealed, and will be a key consideration for many. But imagine being lost in the wilderness and not having to wander aimlessly with your arm raised aloft to try and get a strong enough signal to phone home, or update your socials. Remote towns and villages would no longer be poorly served, and the technology also holds the potential to keep vital communication lines flowing in disaster zones.
More members of the Direct to Cell constellation are expected to regularly launch on Falcon 9 rockets as the project moves toward the official launch of the text service later this year, with the voice, data and IoT services following from 2025. The company has also revealed plans to switch satellite deployment to its Starship when it's ready to rocket "to improve the service even further and increase our launch cadence."
Source: SpaceX
