Newly launched Starlink satellites will support reciprocal access services with MNOs
On Tuesday evening, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 21 Starlink satellites in tow.
Those satellites included the first six Starlink satellites with direct-to-cellular capabilities, essentially acting as cell towers in space and enhancing terrestrial cellular networks with the ability for regular cellular devices to access satellite-based texting, calling and mobile data, according to SpaceX.
Starlink has been lining up mobile network operator partners for reciprocal access that include T-Mobile US, Rogers in Canada, Japan’s KDDI, Optus in Australia and One NZ in New Zealand, as well as Salt in Switzerland and Entel in Chile and Peru.
T-Mobile US and Starlink announced their partnership in 2022, aimed at providing ubiquitous texting capabilities in the U.S. and allowing Starlink to gain access to some of T-Mobile’s midband spectrum. The carrier said at the time that the direct-to-cell capabilities would be able to connect the “vast majority” of smartphones already on its network.
SpaceX’s founder, CEO and CTO Elon Musk said at the time that he anticipated that the Starlink’s new satellites would be able to deliver “two to four megabits per cell zone”–enough for “thousands of voice calls, and millions of text messages.”