SpaceX recently tested Starlink’s Direct to Cell satellites and posted on Elon Musk’s X platform.
The test X post simply said: “This post was sent through a SpaceX Direct to Cell satellite.”
SpaceX’s Director of Satellite Engineering provided more information about the X post. He revealed that the post was made under the cover of trees in a small valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Starlink’s Direct to Cell satellites aim to eliminate dead zones, enabling people to contact anyone anywhere. Direct to Cell will be indispensable during crisis, specifically when calls need to get through to emergency personnel.
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
At the beginning of the year, SpaceX prepared to deploy Direct to Cell Starlink satellites that would allow 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 solutions for locations with no cellular connectivity, it is not meaningfully competitive with existing terrestrial cellular networks,” explained Elon Musk on X.
Last week, SpaceX filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It was seeking regulatory clearance to boost Starlink speeds.
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