The first text message was sent from space

Through its Direct to Cell program, Starlink continues its project to end smartphone white zones.

Elon Musk certainly seems determined to pretend to be Tony Stark. If you haven't kept up with everything, Starlink is a company that provides satellite Internet access, and is part of the astronautics and spaceflight company SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk in 2002.

Since 2019, Starlink has been deploying a constellation of satellites across the Earth, in low Earth orbit. The goal is to end white zones and provide Internet and telephone access everywhere, even in areas that are difficult to reach through Internet cables and other communications infrastructure. Until now, you had to buy a relay antenna to access it.

But as of today, this is no longer the case: Starlink has just launched.”directly to the cell“, which allows (as the name suggests) to connect your smartphone directly to the company's satellite array.

Everything is happening very quickly, satellites equipped with this technology began launching into orbit only a week ago, and the first SMS messages have already been sent via the device. There are still some hiccups in receiving messages, but that's to be expected in such a short time.

This technology is compatible with any smartphone with access to a 4G network. For now, only text messages work, but the company says voice calls and mobile data will arrive in 2025.

While the Starlink network could be a big help in white areas, Elon Musk said it would not be able to compete with land-based phone providers because it cannot handle enough data to be competitive in this area.

It is a solution to have connectivity in remote places, but not in already covered areas, where competing operators can relax.

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