Direct to Cell Technology in 2024: A Quick Summary

Satellite connection on your phone is about to make a big splash globally. Massive players like Apple, SpaceX, T-Mobile and Qualcomm are investing billions in this vision of planet wide, always on connection. How could small satellites, and specifically, CubeSats use this tech to make their missions easier and safer? That's what we are talking about in this side note.
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Summary
- Direct to Cell technology (#dtc , also called mobile satellite services, MSS) allows regular phones to work via satellites.
- There is massive investment in DTC technology worldwide with a number of companies starting to bring satellites online - #AST and #lynk are two of those.
- #spacex is starting to roll out text messaging through #starlink in 2024 in some countries via partnerships with local network carriers, like T-Mobile in the US.
- Calls and data connections are to follow in 2025.
- Deployment of larger Starlink V2 satellites is a driver for the #starship program's pace.
- All in all, DTC is here to stay.
- Potentially, this technology can be used in the future to make data connectivity for small satellites like #cubesat and PocketQubes significantly easier and more affordable.
- It remains to be seen if this is a viable approach, as doppler shift and timing will be different for LTE modem on the ground vs. in LEO.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:28 Lynk and AST SpaceMobile (#ASTS)
01:38 SpaceX Starlin x T-Mobile
02:23 Starlink DTC carrier list
02:35 Starlink V2-mini and V2
03:02 Stalink DTC rollout
03:45 #Apple x #Globalstar
04:21 #Qualcomm #Snapdragon x #Iridium (#Stardust)
04:57 Impications for #CubeSat comms
05:45 Current high failure rate of CubeSat missions
06:61 Thinking further: Implications for CubeSat insurance
07:07 Shoutout to ‪@ANT61‬ and OWL
08:08 Hurdles for on-orbit DTC
Repo Links
Upcoming content: codeberg.org/b...
Links
$ASTS BlueWalker3 Magnitude: arxiv.org/abs/...
BlueWalker3 imaged from the ground by M. Tzukran: en.wikipedia.o...
Langer, Martin and Bouwmeester, Jasper (2016): Reliability of CubeSats - Statistical Data, Developers’ Beliefs and the Way Forward: digitalcommons...
IEEE Spectrum 5G Satellites: spectrum.ieee....
ANT61 Beacon: www.ant61.com/...
Scott Manley: History Of Communications Satellite: • History Of Communicati...
Credits
SpaceX + T-Mobile Update: • SpaceX + T-Mobile Update
Contact
Get in touch: buildacubesat....
Need a friendly, non-corporate GitHub/Gitlab alternative? Check out codeberg.org/
#buildacubesat #sidenote #sn02

[@daveblack9105]

That was brilliant!! Thanks. I really enjoyed it

[@buildacubesat]

Thank you!

[@juliuscaesar467]

Keep up the great work, I hope more people will benefit from your videos