SpaceX Is Testing Its Starlink Satellite Cell Phone Coverage

Last year, SpaceX and T-Mobile announced their new partnership “Coverage and Above and Beyond,” a global satellite-to-cellular network program. Aimed at putting an end to mobile dead zones, such as rural areas or in the middle of the ocean, Elon Musk and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert detailed plans to provide 5G coverage via second-generation Starlink satellites.

Nearly a year later, the two companies have shared that they’ll begin testing the 5G service later in 2023.

Speaking on a panel at the Satellite Conference and Exhibition 2023, Vice President of Starlink enterprise sales Jonathan Hofeller declared that Starlink boasts “well over a million users” and is currently building 6 second-generation satellites each day, per CNBC space reporter Michael Sheetz.

Hofeller went on to say that SpaceX will “start getting into testing” the satellites in 2023.

“We’re going to learn a lot by doing — not necessarily by overanalyzing — and getting out there, working with the telcos,” he continued.

Hofeller: Starlink now has “well over a million users,” and SpaceX is building 6 next-generation satellite per day, as well as 1000s of user terminals daily.

— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) March 13, 2023

Musk had initially said that he wanted to launch Starlink cell coverage to the public in 2023 but on this current timeline, that goal seems unlikely. The company hasn’t yet given consumers a new date for when they expect the service to roll out.

In other tech news, Sony unveiled a point-and-shoot camera for the visually impaired.