SpaceX Starlink Direct-to-Cell aims to connect billions of existing smartphones to LEO satellites. No hardware modification required. No special SIM card. T-Mobile’s beta already delivers SMS to unmodified phones via Starlink. But scaling to full voice and data service demands solving a hidden bottleneck. Every time a LEO satellite passes overhead and hands off to …
SpaceX submitted FCC filing SAT-LOA-20250916-00282 on September 16, 2025, requesting authorization for up to 15,000 additional low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites dedicated to enhancing its Direct-to-Cell (DTC) Starlink service. This filing builds on prior approvals for ~29,988 broadband-focused satellites and leverages spectrum acquired from EchoStar in a $17 billion deal, enabling hybrid satellite-terrestrial networks for ubiquitous …
Elon Musk has just confirmed that 𝕏 Money is working internally and will start extending to outside beta users soon. 𝕏 Money is a digital payment service providing peer-to-peer transfers, a wallet for storing funds, and Visa integration for bank/debit card connections. It may add crypto and investment features later. Currently in internal beta, expanding …
SpaceX new 50 MHz bandwidth buy from Echostar went from leasing and partnering with T-mobile for one lane of bandwidth for upload and one for download for direct to cellphone to six lanes each way or 9 lanes for download and 3 for upload and the own ten of those lanes outright. In March 2025 …
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) is developing a space-based cellular broadband network that provides direct-to-cellphone connectivity worldwide. This would eliminate deadzones without requiring special antennas like existing satellite phones and will work on standard smartphones. Their satellites, known as BlueBird, are designed to deliver 4G/5G service from low Earth orbit (LEO) by beaming signals directly to unmodified …
Elon Musk has posted that SpaceX Starship is on track to weekly launches of the version 3 Starship in 2026. This will mean 20-30 times the bandwidth per Starship launch with Starlink V3 satellites versus Falcon 9 with V2 mini satellites. Forty Starship launches with each launching 60 TBPS of capacity. This would mean 2400 …
SpaceX Starlink direct to cell tests do work with 500 enabled satellites. However, there are times where service can degrade to 5-7 minute delay. Perhaps only 300 of the 500 satellites are in position and fully active. There will be a need to increase satellites by the end the year for reliable voice and internet …
On March 7, 2025, the FCC allows Starlink’s direct-to-cell service to operate at higher power which will enable faster, more reliable service. The power level will enable 4G/5G speeds. It is unclear if the max speed requires any extra antenna on existing phones. Elon Musk has previously mentioned that direct to cellphone from satellite could …
The smallest widely available Starlink antenna is the Starlink Mini, which is significantly larger than a typical cellphone (about the size of a laptop or small tablet). There is a range of Starlink antenna offerings. What are there specifications? What are there use cases? How Larger Version 3 Satellites Boost Signal Strength The larger size …
There are reports that hacking caused pagers to explode. Exploding devices could have left 1200+ (and 1500-2000) Hezbollah terrorists hospitalized and some in critical condition. While there are multiple reports. Confirmation is needed of many of the factors (fog of war). We don’t really know if it happened and do not know any possible death …
Starlink Direct to Cellphone supports about 7 Megabytes per beam and the beams are very big. Starlink v2-Mini satellites have three downlink antennas and one uplink antenna, each capable of eight beams and two polarizations. This means that each satellite has a total of 48 beams down and 16 up. It is unclear how many …