T-Mobile And SpaceX Will Test Starlink's Satellite-To-Cell Service

According to a SpaceX executive speaking on Monday, Starlink satellite-to-cell service testing with T-Mobile will start this year.

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Jonathan Hofeller, vice president of Starlink enterprise sales for SpaceX, said on a panel at the Satellite 2023 event in Washington, D.C., "We're going to learn a lot by doing and not necessarily by study of internal — and getting out there.

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Many satellite companies are collaborating with land based mobile phone operators (MNOs) and device manufacturers to fill in coverage gaps across the planet. The market for room data actual services to devices just on floor, such as for smartphones, is widely thought to have financially rewarding potential.

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In August, SpaceX and T-Mobile launched their collaboration, pledging to "eliminate mobile dead zones."

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Over 4,000 Starlink satellites have been launched by SpaceX to date, and the company recently unveiled its more potent "V2 Mini" satellites, which it claims have four times the capability of the prior generation.

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At its factory near Seattle, SpaceX is producing six satellites per day, according to Hofeller, who also believes that the corporation is no longer producing its 1.5 series of Starlink spacecraft. According to him, the company also manufactures "thousands" of user terminals each day.

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Even though SpaceX intends to produce even bigger second-generation satellites and has "produced a couple" thus far, Hofeller highlighted that the launch of them is "connected very closely to Starship," the company's enormous rocket that has not yet reached space.

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Hofeller stated that SpaceX had "far over" 1 million Starlink users, having achieved that landmark in December. The corporation has disclosed that its Starlink division "had a cash positive quarter" in 2022 and aims to "earn money" from the division in 2023.