SpaceX Starlink to Launch First Direct-to-Cell Internet Satellites

January 2024

Arisee Das Gupta

SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company has planned to drop six Starlink satellites that will be able to enable direct-to-cell internet service from space. This is set to be launched at 9:13 pm EST on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.

21 satellites will be launched by the company for this mission, bringing the number of existing satellites by SpaceX, orbiting the Earth, to be more than 5,000.

This space-based internet mission has been promised by Elon Musk since August 2022, and a half-dozen aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 are equipped with the technology that will be required to bring this mission to life.

6 of the 21 Starlink satellites launched are capable of connecting directly to cell phones and are designed to function like “a cellphone tower in space” according to the Starlink website.

SpaceX states that the satellite will be first used to test its direct-to-cell service with the American telecommunication company T-mobile that the space company has partnered up with for this mission. Once the satellites have been activated, it is expected that the service will connect with ordinary cell phones that are 4G LTE-compatible without any extra equipment. Furthermore, Starlink has also mentioned that they are planning to make a text messaging service in the near future.

While this new project will revolutionise how we communicate wirelessly it has its limitations in areas where signal quality is poor or non-existent. However, Starlink hopes to offer high-speed internet services all around the world with the use of their satellites and eliminate signal dead zones with the aid of these satellite signals from space. Fortunately, Starlink has already proven the benefits of their satellites by their implementation to connect citizens in war-torn Ukraine.

After the launch of the Starlink satellites, Elon Musk took to Twitter to celebrate its successful launch with the quote: “These satellites will allow for mobile phone connectivity anywhere on Earth”. However, he mentions the limitations of the technology as well, such as its potential inadequate contributions when in competition with existing terrestrial cellular networks.

In addition to SpaceX’s cellular partnership with T-Mobile the company has announced future worldwide partnerships with other cellular companies such as Optus in Australia, Rogers in Canada, One NZ in New Zealand, KDDI in Japan, Salt in Switzerland, and Entel in Chile and Peru.

In the end, this mission is more of a milestone in Elon Musk’s plan to make his Starlink Satellites profitable while he and his company work towards building expensive rockets to send humans to Mars.

References

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Cameron, C. (2024, January 3). SpaceX Starlink to launch first direct-to-cell internet satellites. The Messenger. https://themessenger.com/tech/spacex-starlink-to-launch-first-direct-to-cell-internet-satellites?utm_source=tldrnewsletter 

Hart, R. (2024, January 3). Elon Musk’s Starlink launches first-ever cell service satellites-here’s what to know and what mobile phone carrier gets it first. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/01/03/elon-musks-starlink-launches-first-ever-cell-service-satellites-heres-what-to-know-and-what-mobile-phone-carrier-gets-it-first/amp/