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SpaceX is asking for regulatory clearance to expand testing for its cellular Starlink system outside the US, including Canada, Australia, and Japan. The company has requested the special temporary authority from the FCC, according to a new regulatory filing. The goal is to test the cellular Starlink technology outside the US for 180 days starting on May 1.During the tests, SpaceX will beam the internet connectivity from the company’s “Direct to Cell” satellites to unmodified phones on the ground. In the US, SpaceX plans on delivering the broadband through AT&T. But elsewhere, the company has struck partnerships with local carriers, with the aim of using their licensed radio spectrum to send the internet data to customers’ phones.
(Credit: Starlink.com)
SpaceX has already reached deals with seven carriers, including Rogers in Canada, Optus in Australia, and KDDI in Japan. The company’s FCC filing also notes it could expand the cellular Starlink testing to four other markets, including New Zealand, Chile, Peru, and Switzerland. In each country, though, it’ll also need to secure authorization “from the relevant local administrations” before testing can start, the company said. “Testing will likely continue until SpaceX has received commercial authority to deliver supplemental coverage from space from the commission and the relevant local administration,” SpaceX added in the FCC filing.
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The request arrives two weeks after the company received FCC clearance to expand cellular Starlink testing in the US, including conducting trials statewide in California, Washington, Texas, and Hawaii. Over the next few months, SpaceX plans on launching as many as 840 new Starlink satellites outfitted with the direct-to-cell capability. T-Mobile consumers can expect the cellular Starlink system to launch later this year, pending FCC approval. Initially, the technology will only support text messaging; voice and data support is expected next year.
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