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Calls have been routed through orbit from handheld devices for decades now. Ironically, Iridium used SpaceX to launch one of their recent LEO constellations.
by akira2501 3y ago
Calls have been routed through orbit from handheld devices for decades now. Ironically, Iridium used SpaceX to launch one of their recent LEO constellations.
This seems to be strictly about high data rate applications and the certainly soon to be extremely goofy world of "6G."
- lxgr 3y agoNot yet. For now, "direct-to-cell" and its competitors are all about text/voice/low-data-rate applications in areas that so far haven't had any coverage at all, given the extremely low signal strength involved due to the extreme distances, low transmission powers, and omnidirectional device antennas.
- akira2501 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellatio... Launched 1998.
- lxgr 3y agoYes, I’ve used it myself :) That’s the type of service these new services are going to be providing in their first phase, just (if all goes well) with unmodified mobile devices. I’d guess we’re some time away from broadband data to unmodified phones, but in the end, it’s just a function of available power per square meter in the downlink, i.e. how many satellites can be launched and how tightly their beams can be focused, and of reflector size in the uplink (since the transmit power of 4G/5G devices is fixed at about 1-2% that of Iridium).
- piltdownman 3y agoSupposedly ASTS SpaceMobile have achieved broadband data to unmodified phones months ago, although they've provided no evidence of such other than a few PR photos and some fairly light-weight tweets from their partners such as AT&T and Vodafone.
- kelnos 3y agoSure, but not through a standard cellular phone, or with a standard cellular phone's small, hidden antenna, or with a standard cellular phone's battery.