SpaceX has launched 20 of its Starlink satellites into orbit, bringing direct mobile phone connectivity to subscribers anywhere in the world. This marks the completion of the constellation’s first orbital envelope, following the launch of a first batch of six satellites for test purposes in January.

The satellites were launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base at 10 p.m. EST on December 5; They were then deployed in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX founder Elon Musk noted on He added a caveat for the first orbital shell: “The bandwidth per beam is only about 10 MB, but future constellations will be much more powerful.”

This agrees with Musk’s previous statement on the strength of Starlink service in January. “While this is a great solution for locations without cellular connectivity, it does not offer significant competition to existing terrestrial cellular networks,” he noted. However, the current bandwidth of 10MB is an increase over the 7MB that the first test satellites managed earlier this year.

SpaceX

In fact, you currently only get text services until the end of 2024. Voice and data will be available sometime next year, as will support for IoT devices (e.g. smart home gadgets). The company hasn’t said how much its service will cost. A vaguely relevant note to consider is Starlink’s roaming broadband service, which works with a receiver mounted in your car or RV: this costs $50 per month for US subscribers, with a 50GB cap .

How it works

The big advantage of this new venture is that, unlike previous attempts to provide satellite-to-phone services, you don’t need a special cell phone or even a special app to get access anywhere in the world. Starlink uses standard LTE/4G protocols that most phones are compatible with, works with mobile operators such as T-Mobile in the US and Rogers in Canada, and has developed a system that ensures its service works seamlessly with your phone works together when it connects to satellites 340 miles (540 km) above the Earth’s surface.

SpaceX

The SpaceX division noted that it has also worked out latency constraints, ideal altitudes and elevation angles for its satellites, among several other parameters, to achieve reliable connectivity. Each satellite has an LTE modem on board and these satellites are included in the massive constellation of 6,799 existing Starlink spacecraft, according to Space.com.

The connection to this larger constellation is via laser backhaul, in which laser-based optical communication systems transmit data between satellites. This method leverages the advantages of lasers over traditional radio frequency communications, enabling up to 100 times faster data rates, greater bandwidth and improved security.

SpaceX

Score another hit for Musk

It’s another leap forward for SpaceX, which has a number of competitors in satellite communications technology. The direct-to-cell program was originally proposed in 2022 to become operational the following year, but only received approval from US authorities last month. Competitors include Lynk, which has satellites in orbit and launched in the island nation of Palau as early as 2023, and AST SpaceMobile, which also has commercial satellites in orbit and has contracts with the U.S. government, Europe and Japan.

Source: Starlink