The SpaceX experiment would have been carried out with a Galaxy S21 Ultra. © Lemon squeezer
Starlink is preparing its second revolution. After launching an alternative to fixed satellite internet, SpaceX's telecommunications service is working on a direct connection to smartphones. For this new offer, Elon Musk's company has developed satellites that simulate 4G networks from space. And for the moment, the tests are going wonderfully.
Previously, after successfully completing the first launch, SpaceX was able to validate its technology by sending the very first text message from space. Subsequently, the company was able to post a publication on the social network X, using its mobile connection provided via satellites. And in a new publication, Elon Musk announces that SpaceX managed to achieve a maximum download speed of 17 Mb/s from a satellite to an unmodified Samsung smartphone.
SpaceX just achieved peak download speed of 17Mb/s from satellite direct to unmodified Samsung Android phone pic.twitter.com/JqPHmkriv0
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2024
By analyzing the information shared by Elon Musk, our colleagues at Sammobile also deduced that the model that SpaceX used for this test would be a 128 GB Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. It was therefore not an ultra-smartphone. recent. In any case, the fact that this smartphone has not undergone any modification is important. Indeed, if mobile satellite connections already exist, Starlink's technology stands out in that it must support any 4G smartphone.
Elon Musk reassures operators
It is normal to think that SpaceX could enter into direct competition with mobile operators, using its Starlink satellites. However, in response to a user, Elon Musk recalled that the new offer is not intended to replace the services of these operators, but to complement them. “[…] this system is only effective where there is no cellular service”, indicated the boss of SpaceX.
No, because this is the current peak speed per beam and the beams are large, so this system is only effective where there is no existing cellular service.
This service works in partnership with wireless providers, like what @SpaceX and @TMobile announced.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2024
“This service works in partnership with wireless service providers”, he also recalled. For example, in the United States, SpaceX's partner is the operator T-Mobile. In Canada, he works with Rogers. In Japan, he works with KDDI. And in Switzerland, the company collaborates with SALT. Currently, no French partner has yet been announced.
In its roadmap, SpaceX plans to offer texting via satellites, starting this year. Then, in 2025, the offer would also include calls as well as mobile data.
- Starlink is preparing a new service which will provide a 4G network in areas not covered by traditional telecommunications infrastructure
- Elon Musk publishes the results of a download test carried out on a link between a SpaceX satellite and an unmodified Samsung smartphone
- The interest of this new technology is that it allows any 4G smartphone to connect directly to satellites
- But Elon Musk specifies that he does not enter into competition with operators (but collaborates with these)
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