Elon Musk’s SpaceX will offer free access to emergency services through its upcoming Starlink ‘Direct to Cell’ offering, the billionaire said on Tuesday.
“SpaceX Starlink will provide emergency services access for mobile phones for people in distress for free,” Musk explained in a post on X. “This applies worldwide, subject to approval by country governments.”
After thinking it through, SpaceX Starlink will provide emergency services access for mobile phones for people in distress for free.
This applies worldwide, subject to approval by country governments.
Can’t have a situation where someone dies because they forgot or were unable…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2024
In Canada, SpaceX has partnered with Rogers to bring satellite-based cellular connectivity to phones across the country. Once launched, the service will not only help address cellular dead zones over land, forest, and water alike, but Rogers customers will also be able to take advantage of reciprocal service in partner nations such as the U.S., Japan, and New Zealand, where SpaceX will be collaborating with other telecom operators.
Musk detailed plans to offer a free satellite-based emergency SOS system as he expanded on a recent letter SpaceX sent to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In the letter, SpaceX noted that Starlink Direct to Cell will be able to send emergency alerts to all wireless users in cellular dead zones, regardless of whether they’re subscribed to the service or not.
“Can’t have a situation where someone dies because they forgot or were unable to pay for it,” Musk continued.
The planned service bears a resemblance to Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite feature, which leverages satellite connectivity to help users reach emergency services when they’re outside of cellular coverage. While the Starlink emergency SOS feature will be free, Direct to Cell itself will be a paid service offering a regular communications network like those offered by any other telecom operator, albeit with Starlink satellites serving as cell towers all the way up in space.
Starlink Direct to Cell will be compatible with all existing LTE mobile phones and won’t require any additional apps or hardware/software changes. Rogers first announced its partnership with SpaceX and Lynk Global to offer cell coverage across all of Canada last year.
Starlink Direct to Cell plans to start offering text connectivity starting sometime this year, with voice and data services to follow in 2025, along with IoT integration. SpaceX has already conducted successful tests of messaging, data, and video-calling connectivity on the satellite network.
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I am curious if the iphone will eventually be able to connect to satellite and Starlink, depending on location.
From how I read it I’d say the answer you are curious about is Yes. Iphone 14 and up already do free SOS via satellite, and the Spacex towers in the sky will be by the LTE format we use our cell phones on today. Hope this helps.
So does this mean we can call 911? Text 911? How does it work?