SpaceX has announced a partnership with T-Mobile to deliver a new satellite-to-cellular service across the United States.
The service will combine SpaceX’s second-generation Starlink satellites with T-Mobile’s mid-band 5G spectrum to provide direct connectivity between satellites and ordinary mobile phones.
T-Mobile says the vast majority of today’s smartphones will be compatible with the new network. When fully deployed, the partners expect near-complete coverage across the U.S., including territorial waters, so long as users have a clear view of the sky.
“Our vision is: if you have a clear view of the sky, you’re connected,” T-Mobile US CEO Mike Sievert said during a live event at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas.
Starlink’s next-generation satellites are significantly larger than the current fleet and carry more powerful phased-array antennas. Those antennas are designed to detect and communicate with the faint signals emitted by typical mobile phones, removing the need for bulky ground stations.
“These are the most advanced antennas in the world,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, noting the engineering challenges involved.
He explained that the satellites must receive extremely weak signals that travel hundreds of miles, while also compensating for the satellite’s own high orbital speed and the resulting Doppler effect.
Musk acknowledged the project still faces technical hurdles but said SpaceX has demonstrated the concept in the lab and is making strong progress toward field readiness. “It’s actually quite a lot of extra hardware on the satellites and it’s also a lot of software. It’s a hard problem,” he said.
In addition to engineering work, SpaceX and T-Mobile will need to secure regulatory approvals before the service can be offered commercially.
The companies aim to begin a beta rollout in late 2023. At launch the service is expected to support SMS, MMS, and select messaging apps; full voice and data capabilities are planned for a later phase.
Sievert described the alliance as more than a collaboration between two companies: “This represents two industry-shaking innovators challenging the old ways of doing things to create something entirely new that will further connect customers and scare competitors.”
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