Elon Musk does not want you to run out of coverage: he will use his satellites to give you Internet on your mobile

The spacex satellite division It has become one of Elon Musk’s great economic and technological assets. To the constant deployment of its internet service —which is already arriving in Spain— now joins a new field of connectivity directly to mobiles. This was announced by the CEO and founder of the company in an event broadcast live on YouTube where he took the opportunity to detail the operation together with its deployment partner, the US subsidiary of the German operator T-Mobile.

[El Internet vía satélite de Starlink llegará a aviones, barcos y coches]

The announced project will unite a new Starlink antenna technology in which they are already working and finalizing, according to ArsTechnica. And that they will apply to the next generation of satellites that they have already confirmed will be significantly larger than the current ones, which have a mass of 295 kilograms.

“Our vision is that if you have a clear view of the sky, you are connected”, according to Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile US. A feature that would allow to have a minimum of connectivity without dead zones. With worldwide coverage without needing one of those big, expensive satellite phones.

From satellite to mobile

The current connection scheme is intended for fixed stations on the mainland composed of a large antenna similar to a flying saucer. With it, the user connects to one of the almost 3,000 satellites that Starlink already has in orbit, forming a huge constellation that, for the moment, is unable to connect directly to mobile phones.

The solution to this problem is to use a much more powerful and larger antenna on the satellite itself, which would result in the second version of Starlink. As Musk commented at the event, the body of the satellites would be about 7 meters long and the antenna about 5 meters on a side. Which would give 25 square meters of surface.

SpaceX and T-Mobile ad campaign

SpaceX

As the satellite passes overhead, the antenna will send and receive data along its focused beam toward the planet’s surface. Something that will also have its own limits.

The estimated speed will be between 2 and 4 Mbps for data transfer, at least initially. Enough to send messages through applications such as WhatsApp or Telegram, as well as make calls. This new technology opens the door to use in areas that do not have coverage or in emergency situations such as climatic catastrophes; where communications are one of the first technologies to shut down.

In any case, it is a backup connectivity with respect to the conventional one carried out by terrestrial networks. The user’s mobile phone gives priority to the antennas and, in case of not finding a connection, it would search the sky.

As detailed Sievert, the US subsidiary of T-Mobile has planned offer this service on most of their existing rates for freecovering the United States—including Hawaii and Alaska—and much of the world’s oceans from the start.

“We think these are the most advanced antennas in the world,” Musk said. “They have to pick up a very quiet mobile phone signal. Imagine, that signal has to travel 800 kilometers and then be picked up by a satellite traveling at 27,000 km/h. The satellite has to compensate for the Doppler effect of moving so fast.”

Also, the Starlink satellites of the second version cannot be integrated into the Falcon 9 rocket due to space problems. This subordinates the success of the satellite connection program to the good results of the Starship program. As an alternative, Musk has already announced that they may develop a “mini” version that can fit inside the rocket in service.

“It’s really quite a technical challenge,” Elon Musk said. “But we have it working in the lab, and we’re confident it will work in the field.” He has also pointed out that it is “quite hardware extra on the satellites, and also a lot software” . Starlink hopes to launch a beta version of the service before the end of 2023.

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Elon Musk does not want you to run out of coverage: he will use his satellites to give you Internet on your mobile