SpaceX has unveiled text messaging between two phones in a newly deployed mobile network satellite.
The innovation is the most recent turning point in the company’s attempt to provide a worldwide mobile network driven by low-Earth orbit satellites.
It will provide connection in the most isolated and difficult-to-reach places, according to SpaceX. As with current satellite mobile networks, customers will not need a separate app or specific mobile device to utilize the Starlink “direct-to-cell” service.
Six of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites were launched aboard its Falcon 9 reusable rocket and were deployed on January 2. With the intention of eventually launching 840 satellites that would beam signals to 2,000 phones in certain US locations, the business is now testing its network.