Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches first ever Starlink direct-to-cell satellites

Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced that it has launched its first ever set of Starlink direct-to-cell satellites to provide cell phone service anywhere in the world.

On Wednesday, T-Mobile US announced that SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday, carrying the initial set of Starlink satellites designed to transmit phone signals directly to smartphones from space.

In addition to T-Mobile US, global wireless providers, such as KDDI in Japan, Optus in Australia, One NZ in New Zealand, and Rogers in Canada, are partnering with SpaceX to deploy direct-to-cell technology.

According to T-Mobile US, the direct-to-cell service will kick-off with text messaging followed by voice and data capabilities in the coming years.

Starlink satellites with Direct to Cell capability have an advanced eNodeB modem onboard that acts like a cellphone tower in space, allowing network integration similar to a standard roaming partner. It is expected that this technology will eliminate dead zones as it enables connectivity in remote regions.

According to billionaire owner Elon Musk, “this will allow for mobile phone connectivity anywhere on Earth. Note, this only supports ~7Mb per beam and the beams are very big, so while this is a great solution for locations with no cellular connectivity, it is not meaningfully competitive with existing terrestrial cellular networks.”