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SpaceX: Only five more launches needed to complete Starlink direct-to-cell constellation

According to a tweet posted by SpaceX shortly after yesterday’s first launch from Vandenberg, the company needs only five more launches to complete its first constellation of Starlink direct-to-cell satellites.

More information here. At the moment the company has launched 260 of this version of its Starlink satellites. Since each launch places 13 more satellites in orbit, that means the first full iteration of the constellation will contain 325 satellites.

The satellites will allow cell phone users on the ground to use the constellations like a cell tower, thus providing service in areas where ground cell tower service does not exist. At the moment T-Mobile has a deal with SpaceX, so its subscribers will be able to use this service as soon as it is operational.

When when this be achieved? This story once again illustrates the speed in which SpaceX operates. The first launch of direct-to-cell Starlink satellites occurred on January 2, 2024, and in the last ten months the company has completed 23 launches to get the constellation where it is presently. At that pace the entire consellation might be complete before the end of this year.

The competition for this service is certainly fierce. The other satellite company offering this service, AST Mobile, has launched the first five satellites in its constellation, and has deals with AT&T and Verizon. Its design is different, and will only require 110 satellites to complete the constellation. At the moment five are about to become operational. It hopes to start regular launches next year to complete the constellation.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

4 comments

  • Surly

    Being a gentleman, you were too polite to note the five AST SpaceMobile Bluebird satellites were launched by their direct competitor SpaceX under a multi-launch contract.

  • Surly: Yup. If SpaceX wanted to play monopoly and shut out this competitor, it could have. Right now there simply isn’t the launch capacity from others for AST Mobile to get the launches it needs.

    Musk however believes in freedom and competition. He is not afraid of it, he welcomes it, like all true Americans.

  • Jeff Wright

    The Bluewalker satellites are large–how is Starlink doing Direct-to-Cell?

    It’s satellites are only a bit bigger

  • mkent

    ”Since each launch places 13 more satellites in orbit, that means the first full iteration of the constellation will contain 325 satellites.”

    The full constellation has 24 planes of 13 satellites each, for a total of 312 satellites. The first two launches contained six prototype satellites each, but these are being replaced by operational sats. There are four empty planes and one prototype plane yet to launch.

    BTW, the list in the linked SpaceflightNow article is inaccurate. Starlink 10-10 did not contain any D2C satellites.

    ”The Bluewalker satellites are large–how is Starlink doing Direct-to-Cell?

    My understanding is that the Bluewalkers are a third-generation system approved for voice connections, whereas the Starlink system is a second-generation system appropriate for text messaging. However, AST appears to be very cash limited, so SpaceX may yet get to a full third-generation system before AST.

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