Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches first T-Mobile satellite to give 300 million Americans upgraded signal

SPACEX has launched its first satellites with cell service in collaboration with T-Mobile.

Lift-off occurred on Wednesday from California using SpaceX’s powerful Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX has launched its first satellites with cell service in collaboration with T-Mobile.Credit: AP

The rocket carried 21 Starlink satellites – six of which are equipped with T-Mobile’s direct-to-cell capabilities.

This marks the start of a revolutionary partnership with T-Mobile to diminish mobile dead zones across the United States.

“This is a significant milestone following last year’s joint announcement of the Coverage Above and Beyond initiative,” T-Mobile said in a press release.

The initiative aims to bring connectivity nearly everywhere in the US even in the most remote locations.

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“Now that the satellites are in low-Earth orbit, field testing can soon begin on the new service that will leverage SpaceX’s constellation of satellites with direct-to-cell technology and T-Mobile’s industry-leading wireless network,” T-Mobile added.

These specially designed Starlink satellites carry onboard cell towers that will beam signals directly to compatible phones.

Initial testing will focus on voice calls, data coverage, and text messaging, especially to underserved communities.

“Our mission is to be the best in the world at connecting customers to their world and today is another step forward in keeping our customers connected even in the most remote locations for added peace of mind when they need it most,” Mike Katz, President of Marketing, Strategy and Products, T-Mobile, said yesterday.

“Today’s launch is a pivotal moment for this groundbreaking alliance with SpaceX and our global partners around the world, as we work to make dead zones a thing of the past,” Katz added.

SpaceX is also planning to partner with telecommunication providers from other countries to offer the same service.

Last year, the company began talks with Japan’s KDDI, Australia’s Optus, New Zealand’s One NZ, and Canada’s Rogers.

“This [technology] will allow for mobile phone connectivity anywhere on Earth,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on X, formerly Twitter.

“Note, this only supports ~7Mb per beam, and the beams are very big,” he added.

“So while this is a great solution for locations with no cellular connectivity, it is not meaningfully competitive with existing terrestrial cellular networks.”