Direct From Space to Your Cellphone

Last week SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vanderberg. Aboard were yet more Starlink satellites. This isn't really something people get excited about these days, but perhaps this time we should. Because more than half of those satellites were capable of direct-to-cell connectivity, doubling the number of Starlink satellites on orbit that can talk directly to your cellphone.

Of course the idea that your cellphone can talk directly to satellites isn't a new one. Recent models of Apple's iPhone have been able to use a satellite connection when they have no cellular and Wi-Fi coverage to text emergency services, or to request roadside assistance. But the idea that you can be in coverage whenever you can see the sky is sort of interesting.

Although this isn't even the first attempt by SpaceX to bring satellite service to devices smaller and less power hungry than a Starlink "dishy". A few years back I had the opportunity to try out Swarm Technology's satellite modem.

Acquired by SpaceX back in 2021, and killed off just two years later, presuambly in favour of the direct-to-cell concept unlike their current offering Swarm Technologies satellites used VHF frequencies to talk to hardware on the ground.

However, despite rapid progress building out the network of satellites on orbit, we're unlikely to see the promised ubiquitous text, voice, and data coverage from SpsaceX's satellite service before the tail end of next year. So if you have hardware on the ground right now, and it's some really rather remote, what's the solution?

Right now you should look towards LoRaWAN and Lacuna Space. There's a long history of pushing the LoRaWAN standard beyond it's design limits, and Lacuna has been operating on orbit since back in 2020. The interesting thing about their approach is that when terrestrial LoRaWAN is available data flows over ‘normal’ public or private LoRa networks. It’s only when your device is out of coverage that it uses the satellite for backhaul.

The world changes when you can assume things are always available. We saw this with location with the combination of GPS and Wi-Fi triangulation, and to a certain extent with the availability of a network connection, back when the iPhone first changed everything. But the frustration we all now feel when our cellphones drops to GPRS, and our bandwidth grinds to a slow halt, is still with us. That could well soon change.