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SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

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Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#121

Post by wongarsu »

fragmede wrote: post #99
anonymousiam wrote: post #5

I watched the announcement. Knowing Musk, I'll believe it when I see it, but it sounds promising. Apparently the G2 Starlink satellites will be equipped with large antennas to support cellular users on the existing spectrum. Video was live-streamed, and still available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzli-Ww26Qs

Self-driving cars have proven harder than expected, but given the rest of Musk's tale, I wouldn't bet against him. SpaceX is already launching satellites, and Starlink is already providing service. T-mobile owns the frequencies for it, it's "just" a matter of building the satellites and putting them into space. If the claim were more outlandish, it would be harder to buy, but the technology is eminently doable.

Just a couple days ago they announced that they will also be using Falcon 9 to launch the new Gen2 Starlink satellites, instead of the original plan to launch all of them using the still-in-development Starship. So it seems like Musk is pretty committed to doing this in a reasonable timeline, with smaller technology risk.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#122

Post by ryan93 »

mplewis wrote: post #110
mlindner wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people keep comparing to Theranos when Starlink is already being used by hundreds of thousands of people? Starlink exists. In fact, SpaceX/Starlink now operates more satellites in Low Earth Orbit than every other country and business in the world, combined. Theranos had no proven track record. Like, what's enough to satisfy you?

[flagged]

?

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#123

Post by ta988 »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #61
joshuamoes wrote: post #42

This will shake up a lot of things in the sattelite market. It will take a lot of marketshare from satellite trackers like inreach. Also living in a remote area, and being familiar with the existing tracking solutions for transport this could be a lot cheaper per asset. Also remote sensor locations. Anything low bitrate.

Iridium in shambles.

I would still trust iridium more for a life or death situation than T-Mobile...

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#124

Post by ALittleLight »

mplewis wrote: post #110
mlindner wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people keep comparing to Theranos when Starlink is already being used by hundreds of thousands of people? Starlink exists. In fact, SpaceX/Starlink now operates more satellites in Low Earth Orbit than every other country and business in the world, combined. Theranos had no proven track record. Like, what's enough to satisfy you?

[flagged]

I think you damage your own credibility more than Musk's by saying things like this. He's delivered on electric cars and reusable rockets. It's fair to say promises more than he delivers, but he delivers an awful lot.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#125

Post by carlivar »

fragmede wrote: post #99
anonymousiam wrote: post #5

I watched the announcement. Knowing Musk, I'll believe it when I see it, but it sounds promising. Apparently the G2 Starlink satellites will be equipped with large antennas to support cellular users on the existing spectrum. Video was live-streamed, and still available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzli-Ww26Qs

Self-driving cars have proven harder than expected, but given the rest of Musk's tale, I wouldn't bet against him. SpaceX is already launching satellites, and Starlink is already providing service. T-mobile owns the frequencies for it, it's "just" a matter of building the satellites and putting them into space. If the claim were more outlandish, it would be harder to buy, but the technology is eminently doable.

No, self driving cars are as hard as expected.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#126

Post by geoffeg »

imoverclocked wrote: post #86
xcskier56 wrote: post #78

While I see the great potential in this technology, the collateral damage is the loss of places where one can truly disconnect. I just got back from 4 days camping at a remote mountain lake with zero phone coverage, and it’s one of the most incredible ways to fully recharge and step away from the day to day treadmill of the modern world. When we loose the possibility to completely disconnect, I at least, will feel a…

Not to be snarky, phones do have an “off” button. There is no reason we can’t have a little disconnectedness anywhere we choose. Ie: the problem isn’t the connection, it’s the expectation that just because there is a connection there is also a need to respond.

I think the problem isn't me turning my phone off, it's other people not turning their phone off.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#128

Post by joshe »

This will be interesting, one advantage Verizon has had is more area coverage in many states. In Northern California I switched from Tmobile -> Verizon just for this reason. It has been much better. This is for stuff like on a random beach, at a camping spot or just driving around in hills in the North Bay. I've never noticed any difference in SF.

I thought competitors would never catch up, because tower buildout is so difficult. This has the potential to leapfrog over that. To me a reliable 2/3G experience everywhere would be superior to higher speeds in suburbs (if that's Verizon's benefit).

Also I miss the Tmobile travel experience, you just land and it works for free in many countries. I'd happily switch back.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#129

Post by madengr »

shadowgovt wrote: post #48
nootropicat wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the... is that what's possible with 5G? Amazing, and even days ago I was thinking of satellite smartphone internet as something scifi because of (clearly incorrect!) complicated antenna requirements.

Radio's got some crazy physics. So baseline, a modern cell phone can connect to a tower about 45 miles away. Stsrlink satellites orbir about 10 times out from that. They are solving this problem by some very clever phased array technology to be deployed on the satellites themselves, because when it comes to radio, you can often solve the problem of signal reception by boosting either the transmitter or the receiver s…

Line of sight (1/r^2) often has lower attenuation than urban propagation (1/r^3 to 1/r^4), so it’s often easier to hit a LEO satellite than a terrestrial tower.

Re: SpaceX, T-Mobile to connect satellites to cellphones in remote areas

#130

Post by systemvoltage »

fogleman wrote: post #68
mlindner wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't just SpaceX, this is T-Mobile as well.

"This isn't just Theranos, this is Walgreens as well."

This is an egregious comparison, not even remotely close.
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