The Morning After: SpaceX prepares for Starlink satellite-to-cell phone service
Last year, Elon Musk and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert announced Coverage Above and Beyond, a joint initiative to bring Starlink satellite coverage to compatible T-Mobile phones and other devices. Less than a year later, during a panel at the Satellite Conference and Exhibition 2023, SpaceX VP Jonathan Hofeller said the company would “start getting into testing” its satellite-to-cell service this year.
Hofeller didn’t elaborate on which phone carriers SpaceX was working with, but the timeline certainly tallies with Musk’s original vision for the T-Mobile partnership. In August, Musk said Starlink V2 would launch in 2023 and ” transmit directly to mobile phones, eliminating dead zones worldwide.” T-Mobile said the eventual service would give the carrier “near complete coverage” of most of the US, including National Parks and mountain ranges. And maybe that one airport terminal where I never get a signal. We can dream.
– Mat Smith
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