Aerospace company SpaceX has put into orbit the first 20 Starlink satellites for direct connection to cell phones. SpaceX owner Ilon Musk said on the social network X.

According to him, this will allow this will enable unmodified cellphones to have Internet connectivity in remote areas or in emergency situations when the ground infrastructure is damaged. It is noted that the channel capacity is now about 10 Mbps, but future satellites are planned to make more capable.

According to him, this will allow to use communication in remote areas or in emergency situations when the ground infrastructure is damaged. It is noted that the channel capacity is now about 10 Mbps, but future satellites are planned to make more productive.

Falcon 9 was launched from the 40th Launch Complex at the U.S. Space Force base located at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

In the summer of 2022, SpaceX and operator T-Mobile announced a project to launch satellite internet on smartphones, stating plans to launch in 2023. The project is developing Direct to Cell, which will make it possible to directly connect phones without additional devices to the satellite network.

In October 2023, the technology was temporarily authorized for emergency messaging after hurricanes.

In late November, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission finally granted full authorization for Starlink.

So far, SpaceX has launched more than 7.4 thousand satellites as part of the Starlink project, since its launch in May 2019.