SpaceX's Starlink Successfully Tests Direct to Cell Technology

Starlink satellites communicate with unmodified cellphones, paving the way for global SMS service and future voice, data and IoT support.

SpaceX's Starlink has successfully tested its Direct to Cell (DTC) technology, enabling two-way text conversation via orbiting satellites using unmodified cellphones and 4G/LTE radio frequency bands.
The DTC-capable Starlink satellites are equipped with sensitive receivers and transmitters powerful enough to communicate with terrestrial cellphones.
Starlink's DTC hardware is designed to fit onto Starlink v2mini satellites, the first of which launched in early 2023.
Starlink hopes to begin offering SMS-only service to the public sometime this year, with voice, data and IoT support to follow in 2025, regulatory approval permitting.
Starlink has partnered with T-Mobile in the U.S., and with Rogers in Canada, Optus in Australia, One New Zealand, Japanese carrier KDDI, Swiss carrier Salt, and Entel in Chile and Peru to offer DTC service once regulators give the okay.