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Old 11-10-2023, 10:44   #1
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Starlink Direct to Cell starting in 2024

Starlink now has a page about the upcoming service 'direct to cell' that will allow LTE phones.

https://direct.starlink.com/#:~:text...E%20standards.

The cellular providers that are currently partners:

T-mobile (USA), Rogers (CAN), KDDI (Japan), OPTUS (AUS), One NZ (NZ), SALT (Swiss).

Another site is saying text first in 2024 followed by voice and data in 2025.
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Old 12-10-2023, 06:30   #2
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Re: Starlink Direct to Cell starting in 2024

Elon says 2024? Look for it in 2029-2034.

Still, I can't wait! A satellite-based voice and data network would be fantastic. I guess we won't be able to call them "cell" phones any more. We'll have to go with the rest of the English-speaking world and call them "mobiles."
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Old 12-10-2023, 06:32   #3
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Re: Starlink Direct to Cell starting in 2024

Starlink themselves gave the 2024/2025 dates. Texting first.

Understand that due to the size of the satellites and the associated cellular antennas on the satellites.. the amount of bandwidth available to a mobile phone will be extremely limited, hence the texting first. Even once they have data and voice, the data will be very speed limited. It will not be a replacement for land based cell towers or Starlink antennas for most use cases. It will simply be like a 2G failover for cellular service when no 4G/5G towers are available.

AST SpaceMobile on the other hand will deliver higher data speeds direct-to-cell and has partnered with dozens of companies globally, including AT&T in the US, along with Vodaphone, etc. The reason they can deliver higher speeds is the size of their antenna in space is not just 1 sq meter, it's 700 sq meters. And in this case, that's pretty much all that matters.
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Old 27-02-2024, 09:15   #4
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Re: Starlink Direct to Cell starting in 2024

It appears they have sent the first text messages via satellite. I hope this pans out. Could be a great solution for communications in remote areas.

https://www.engadget.com/spacex-and-...103526219.html
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Old 28-02-2024, 18:08   #5
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Re: Starlink Direct to Cell starting in 2024

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Originally Posted by Sea-TechSystems View Post
Starlink themselves gave the 2024/2025 dates. Texting first.

Understand that due to the size of the satellites and the associated cellular antennas on the satellites.. the amount of bandwidth available to a mobile phone will be extremely limited, hence the texting first. Even once they have data and voice, the data will be very speed limited. It will not be a replacement for land based cell towers or Starlink antennas for most use cases. It will simply be like a 2G failover for cellular service when no 4G/5G towers are available.

AST SpaceMobile on the other hand will deliver higher data speeds direct-to-cell and has partnered with dozens of companies globally, including AT&T in the US, along with Vodaphone, etc. The reason they can deliver higher speeds is the size of their antenna in space is not just 1 sq meter, it's 700 sq meters. And in this case, that's pretty much all that matters.
And they have launched how many of these satellites?
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Old 28-02-2024, 23:06   #6
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Re: Starlink Direct to Cell starting in 2024

I work at SpaceX, but I am not offering any insider knowledge, just information that is publicly available.

To answer the question of how long it will take to have enough coverage for direct-to-cell, I'll note that we've only just started launching satellites with this capability. That said, we only just started launching Starlink satellites at all in 2019, and there are now over 5,400 in orbit. For a long time we were launching 60 satellite stacks per launch, but have more recently been launching 21-24 larger satellites with more bandwidth per launch. If and when Starship starts launching satellites, that will also presumably increase the capability to quickly deploy a constellation or changes to it.

I am curious to see how these plans get priced, what the coverage ends up looking like, and whether "maritime" is treated differently from terrestrial. Typically coverage is better in mid latitudes, given the orbital inclination that most of these satellites are launched into, and less-good near the equator where most of us like to sail.

Here's the current constellation:
https://satellitemap.space/
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Old 28-02-2024, 23:13   #7
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Re: Starlink Direct to Cell starting in 2024

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That said, we only just started launching Starlink satellites at all in 2019, and there are now over 5,400 in orbit.
I was about post something along the same lines. It is amazing how fast Starlink has developed to be what it is today. Writing this over dual Starlinks from an in the middle nowhere place, I remember the discussions we had 2019-2020 about what is very normal today was a "pipe dream" for some back then, and how this became so ubiquitous in 2 years after that.

Adding a photo as a teaser with Starlink from Princess Louisa Inlet.



This will probably take another year or two to provide visible outcomes but I am personally pretty jazzed about it.
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Old 29-02-2024, 04:16   #8
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Re: Starlink Direct to Cell starting in 2024

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Originally Posted by Tenedos View Post
I was about post something along the same lines. It is amazing how fast Starlink has developed to be what it is today. Writing this over dual Starlinks from an in the middle nowhere place, I remember the discussions we had 2019-2020 about what is very normal today was a "pipe dream" for some back then, and how this became so ubiquitous in 2 years after that.

Adding a photo as a teaser with Starlink from Princess Louisa Inlet.



This will probably take another year or two to provide visible outcomes but I am personally pretty jazzed about it.
@Tenedos, just curious, why the dual antennas (I get that on a super yacht).
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Old 29-02-2024, 08:54   #9
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Re: Starlink Direct to Cell starting in 2024

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@Tenedos, just curious, why the dual antennas (I get that on a super yacht).
Ah, we do two tech heavy full time jobs with video conferencing for most of the day. Bandwidth overall is not an issue but reliability can be. Even micro disconnects cause a poor video quality and can become unprofessional in meetings.

So we bond two Starlinks to provide a seamless experience. I wrote about it extensively with some test results here: https://svrenaissance.com/reliable-r...with-starlink/

(And yes, working from a magical place like Princess Louisa Inlet can be daunting but that is the topic of a separate discussion!)
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